Chika Wali is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

football player who last played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Ozone Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...

in the

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind India ...

Career

Early career

From the grounds of River State in Nigeria to

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, this solidly built Nigerian has come some distance in every sense of the phrase. Chika started playing the game when he was eight beginning with school games and all school tournaments. He was then picked to play for his state where he used to play as a defensive midfielder. Incidentally, Chika, in his early days wanted to be a striker – he loved scoring goals – but a coach said that he would go much further in the game if he played back considering his height and physique. Later a scout spotted him and got him a contract to play for a club in the neighboring country of

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

, a two hours drive from Chika’s place in Nigeria. He spent a season there – his first as a professional in the game.

Pune

He came to India as a teenager on the invitation of

after a close friend of Chika introduced him to Nigel Empson, a manager in India, who then brought him to the notice of Pune FC leading to his present contract. This is his sixth year in India as a pro. Chika has been a key part of the PFC team which won promotion to the I-League and has gone on to establish itself as a major force in Indian football, finishing second in the I-League in season 2012-13. Hugely popular with the fans and his team-mates, Chika has shown commendable loyalty to PFC. Clean living and dedicated Chika is a player with the character and dedication to do extremely well in the game

Ozone FC

On 26 October 2017

announced the signing of chicka wali for their upcoming

campaign. He made his debut for the club in their first group stage match of

2016–17 I-League 2nd Division The 2016–17 I-League 2nd Division was the tenth season of the I-League 2nd Division, the second-tier Indian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2008. The season began on 21 January 2017 and featured 12 teams whi ...

against Kenkre. However, the club failed to progress to the final round of the league and finished third in their group.

References

External links

* http://www.indianfootball.com/en/statistic/player/detail/playerId/583 * http://goal.com/en-india/people/nigeria/28861/wali-chika {{DEFAULTSORT:Wali, Chika Nigerian footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in India 1990 births Living people Expatriate footballers in India I-League players Pune FC players Salgaocar FC players Mumbai FC players Dempo SC players Association football central defenders Aryan FC players Calcutta Football League players