| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Victor Ikpeba Nosa | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1973-06-12)12 June 1973 (age 51) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Benin City, Nigeria | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1989 | ACB Lagos | |||||||||||||
| 1989–1993 | RFC Liège | 79 | (27) | |||||||||||
| 1993–1999 | Monaco | 170 | (55) | |||||||||||
| 1999–2002 | Borussia Dortmund | 30 | (3) | |||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | →Betis (loan) | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2002–2003 | Al-Ittihad Tripoli | 26 | (13) | |||||||||||
| 2004 | Charleroi | 15 | (5) | |||||||||||
| 2005 | Al Sadd | |||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Nigeria U23 | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||
| 1992–2002 | Nigeria | 31 | (7) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Victor Ikpeba Nosa (born 12 June 1973) is a Nigerian former professionalfootballer who played as aforward. Ikpeba played 31 international matches and scored seven goals forNigeria. He was a member of Super Eagles team to theFIFA World Cups in1994 but played and scored the lone goal against Bulgaria in the second game of the team at the1998 FIFA World Cup. Ikpeba helped win the1994 African Nations Cup and the Olympic football gold medal in1996.[citation needed]
Ikpeba was discovered by Belgian clubRFC Liège during the1989 FIFA U-17 World Championship, and moved to play in Belgium together with teammateSunday Oliseh. At the age of 20 and after scoring 17 goals in 1992–93, Ikpeba was bought by Monégasque sideAS Monaco, then coached byArsène Wenger. At Monaco, he gradually became a success, albeit with a tough start. He showed outstanding form subsequent to the1996 Olympics, scoring 13 league goals to help Monaco win the league title, and also finishing as the second-top goalscorer in the1996–97 UEFA Cup. His performances earned him theAfrican Footballer of the Year award in 1997. Two successful seasons followed. While at Monaco, Ikpeba nearly signed for Italian clubReggina. But his wife, unwilling to give up life in Monaco, locked him in their house on the day he was to sign his contract.[1] Ikpeba played inJean Tigana's talented Monaco side which famously putManchester United out of theChampions League in 1998 on away goals after a 1–1 draw atOld Trafford.[2]
Ikpeba again teamed up withSunday Oliseh atBorussia Dortmund in 1999, for a transfer fee of £4.8 million. Ikpeba scored only two goals in his first season in theBundesliga and barely played in his second, after falling out with the coachMatthias Sammer. Looking for a move abroad, Ikpeba turned downSouthampton to joinReal Betis on a season-long loan.[3] Things went further downhill for the player inSpain as he was criticised for being overweight by the coach, after making just one appearance for the club. He didn't feature for Betis again up until the last two games of the season.
Ikpeba then signed a season-long contract with Libyan outfitAl-Ittihad Tripoli, but only played out half of his contract with the club, as he quit the team over financial disagreements.[4] After leaving Libya and spending almost a year without a club, Ikpeba returned toBelgium, where he joined his former Liège coach atCharleroi. After helping the club avoid relegation, Ikpeba came very close to signing with German sideSC Freiburg,[5] but the deal fell through when it was revealed that the player had noEU passport.[6] Ikpeba then had a short spell at [[Al Sadd SC|Al Sadd] inQatar, before retiring from professional football.
In spite of his small physique, Ikpeba was a fast, versatile, and opportunistic forward, who was capable of playing as astriker, as asecond striker, or on eitherwing, and was known for his ability to score from any position on the pitch.[7]
Ikpeba now lives inLagos, and he co-hosts Monday Night Football on Supersport. His wife Atinuke died in May 2000 at the age of 26, after losing her battle withbreast cancer.[8]
RFC Liège
Monaco
Al-Ittihad
Nigeria
Individual
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