Obiora Odita

Obiora Odita
Personal information
Full name Obiorah Emmanuel Odita
Date of birth (1983-05-14) 14 May 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Enugu, Nigeria
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Enugu Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2003 Udoji United
2003–2005 Javor Ivanjica 43 (16)
2005–2007 Partizan 48 (16)
2006 → Javor Ivanjica (loan) 12 (5)
2007–2009 Al Ain 0 (0)
2008 → Westerlo (loan) 9 (2)
2009–2010 Westerlo 28 (3)
2010–2011 Javor Ivanjica 15 (2)
2011 Tianjin Teda 8 (1)
2011–2012 Javor Ivanjica 23 (9)
2012–2013 Taraz 42 (11)
2014–2016 Voždovac 53 (11)
2016–2021 Mladost Lučani 142 (10)
2021–2022 Javor Ivanjica 34 (7)
2022 Železničar Pančevo 4 (0)
2023 FAP
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 February 2023

Obiorah Emmanuel Odita // ⓘ (born 14 May 1983) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward. He also holds Serbian citizenship.[1]

Career

Early years

Born in Enugu, Odita started out at local club Enugu Rangers, before switching to Udoji United. He subsequently moved to Serbia and Montenegro and joined First League side Javor Ivanjica in the 2003 winter transfer window. Until the end of the 2002–03 season, Odita scored one goal in nine league appearances, as the club suffered relegation to the Second League. He stayed there until the 2005 winter transfer window.[citation needed]

Partizan

In January 2005, Odita was officially transferred to Partizan, signing a four-year deal.[2] He marked his competitive debut by scoring both of his team's goals in a 2–2 draw with Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the first leg of the UEFA Cup round of 32.[3] In the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League Second qualifying round, Odita scored a screamer to give Partizan a 1–0 win against Sheriff Tiraspol. In January 2006, Odita was sent on a six-month loan to Javor Ivanjica.[4] He then returned to Partizan and scored 10 league goals from 23 appearances in the 2006–07 season, while often partnering Stevan Jovetić. In June 2007, Odita moved to the United Arab Emirates and signed a two-year contract with Al Ain.[5]

Westerlo

In January 2008, Odita was loaned to Belgian club Westerlo. He scored twice in the second half of the 2007–08 season, before returning to Al Ain. In January 2009, Odita moved back to Belgium and signed a permanent contract with Westerlo.[6]

Later years

In the summer of 2010, Odita made a comeback to Serbia by signing with his former club Javor Ivanjica for the 2010–11 season.[7] He later moved to China and signed with Tianjin Teda in early 2011.

After two seasons with Taraz in Kazakhstan, Odita returned to Serbia once again and joined Voždovac in the summer of 2014.[8]

In June 2016, Odita switched to fellow Serbian club Mladost Lučani.[9]

On 14 June 2021, it was announced that Odita has retired,[10] only to be confirmed to have joined his former club Javor Ivanjica for the fifth time, four days later.[11]

Career statistics

As of 23 August 2020[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Javor Ivanjica 2002–03 9 1 0 0 — 9 1
2003–04 16 5 0 0 — 16 5
2004–05 18 10 1 0 — 19 10
Total 43 16 1 0 — 44 16
Partizan 2004–05 12 5 1 0 4 2 17 7
2005–06 13 1 2 1 6 2 21 4
2006–07 23 10 1 0 6 2 30 12
Total 48 16 4 1 16 6 68 23
Javor Ivanjica (loan) 2005–06 12 5 0 0 — 12 5
Al Ain 2007–08 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2008–09 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Westerlo (loan) 2007–08 9 2 0 0 — 9 2
Westerlo 2008–09 14 3 0 0 — 14 3
2009–10 14 0 1 1 — 15 1
Total 28 3 1 1 — 29 4
Javor Ivanjica 2010–11 15 2 1 1 — 16 3
Tianjin Teda 2011 8 1 0 0 6 0 14 1
Javor Ivanjica 2011–12 23 9 2 1 — 25 10
Taraz 2012 12 6 0 0 — 12 6
2013 30 5 4 0 — 34 5
Total 42 11 4 0 — 46 11
Voždovac 2014–15 21 5 3 0 — 24 5
2015–16 32 6 1 0 — 33 6
Total 53 11 4 0 — 57 11
Mladost Lučani 2016–17 30 4 1 0 — 31 4
2017–18 28 0 1 0 1 0 30 0
2018–19 25 3 2 0 — 27 3
2019–20 24 1 2 1 — 26 2
2020–21 35 2 1 1 — 36 3
Total 142 10 7 2 1 0 150 12
Javor Ivanjica 2021–22 34 7 2 1 — 36 8
Career total 457 94 26 7 23 6 506 106

Honours

Partizan

Mladost Lučani

References

  1. ^ "Exclusive : FK Vozdovac Striker Obiora Odita Gets Serbian Passport". allnigeriasoccer.com. 5 March 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  2. ^ "Odita potpisao za Partizan" (in Serbian). b92.net. 5 January 2005. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Dnipro deny Odita glorious debut". UEFA. 16 February 2005. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Bilans zimskog prelaznog roka" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  5. ^ "Odita prešao u Al Ain" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  6. ^ "Odita is opnieuw een speler van Westerlo" (in Dutch). voetbalkrant.com. 2 January 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Obiora Odita se vratio u Javor" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 30 July 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Odita ponovo u srpskom fudbalu, potpisao za Voždovac" (in Serbian). blic.rs. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Odita pojačava napad Mladosti" (in Serbian). fkmladostlucani.com. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Obiora Odita završio karijeru" (in Serbian). sportske.net. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Odita se vratio iz penzije posle četiri dana, Javor se pojačao!" (in Serbian). sportske.net. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  12. ^ Obiora Odita at Soccerway