Benedict "Ben" Iroha (born 29 November 1969) is a Nigerian former professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

Iroha started his career in Nigeria, scoring the first ever goal in the newly professional Nigerian league in 1990 for Iwuanyanwu Nationale, who went on to win the league that year. Iroha was originally a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

before national coach Clemens Westerhof converted him to play

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. His club career in Europe was largely unsuccessful, and Iroha was allocated to San Jose Clash in 1996. Iroha ended up playing in the inaugural MLS match against D.C. United, and is credited with the league's first-ever assist. The next season, he was traded to D.C. United, where he won the league title but was dropped to comply with salary restrictions. He entered negotiations with the team to re-sign his contract, but they were halted after Iroha was called up to the World Cup squad for Nigeria. After a move to Spanish side

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

in 1997, he moved to

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in December 1998, playing ten games for the

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

side. A problem with

bunion A bunion, also known as hallux valgus, is a deformity of the metatarsophalangeal joint, MTP joint connecting the big toe to the foot. The big toe often bends towards the other toes and the joint becomes red and painful. The onset of bunions is ...

s forced him to the sidelines, and he retired in March 2000.

International career

Playing for the Nigerian national team, he has featured in the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

and the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

as well as when they won the 1994 African Nations Cup.

Coaching career

After retiring, he returned to the US to coach in the youth department of

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. Most recently, he was an assistant with the Nigerian U-17 team that won the 2007

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the annual world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fé ...

and head coach of Nigeria's Dolphins FC. Iroha is on the staff of Heartland of Owerri.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iroha, Ben 1969 births Living people Footballers from Aba, Nigeria Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Nigeria men's international footballers Africa Cup of Nations–winning players 1990 African Cup of Nations players 1994 African Cup of Nations players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 King Fahd Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Eredivisie players La Liga players Major League Soccer players Bendel Insurance F.C. players Heartland F.C. players ASEC Mimosas players SBV Vitesse players San Jose Earthquakes players D.C. United players Elche CF players Watford F.C. players Nigerian football managers Dolphin F.C. (Nigeria) managers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ivory Coast Expatriate men's footballers in Ivory Coast English Football League players 20th-century Nigerian sportsmen Footballers from Abia State