Chima Venida Uzoka (born 12 June 1998) is a Filipino professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Philippines club

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and ...

Collegiate career

Uzoka attended National University for his collegiate studies.

Club career

Green Archers United

While playing in the UAAP, Uzoka as well was playing for

Green Archers United Green Archers United Futbol Club, formerly known as Alabang Grins Futbol Club, was a Filipino professional association football club based in Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. The team last played in the 2019 season of the Philippines Football Lea ...

in the United Football League (UFL).

Ilocos United

In 2017, Uzoka joined newly-founded

Philippines Football League The Philippines Football League, commonly known as PFL, is a Philippines, Filipino professional association football, football league sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF). It is the Philippines, Philippines' highest level of men ...

club Ilocos United. They played in the inaugural season in 2017 before it was dissolved in January 2018.

Global Cebu

Uzoka then joined

Global Cebu Global Football Club was a professional football club that last played in the Philippines Football League (PFL), the top flight of Philippines' club football. The club has won four league titles, two UFL Cups, one UFL FA Cup, and one PFF Natio ...

Chainat Hornbill

In 2018, Uzoka signed for Thai side Chainat Hornbill.

Stallion Laguna

Uzoka returned to the Philippines and joined Stallion Laguna.

Return to Global Makati

After a short stint with Stallion Laguna, Uzoka returned to his former club Global Makati.

Azkals Development Team

Before the

2020 Philippines Football League The 2020 Philippines Football League, also known as The Philippines Football League brought to you by Qatar Airways, due to the league's title sponsorship, was the fourth season of the Philippines Football League (PFL), the professional football ...

, he signed for

Azkals Development Team The Azkals Development Team, commonly referred to as ADT, is a Philippine developmental football club that competes in the Philippines Football League. Founded in 2020, the team is under the control of the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) ...

in the Philippines, playing in three games for ADT in the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

-shortened 2020 season and scoring a brace against

Mendiola FC 1991 The Mendiola Football Club 1991 is a Filipino professional football club. The club is named after Mendiola Street, a short thoroughfare in the San Miguel district of Manila. It is one of the founding members of United Football League, which wa ...

in a 5–0 victory.

Dynamic Herb Cebu

In March 31, 2022, Dynamic Herb Cebu announced the signing of Uzoka for the

2022 Philippines Football League The 2022 Philippines Football League (known as The Philippines Football League brought to you by Qatar Airways for sponsorship reasons) will be the fifth season of Philippines Football League (PFL), professional football league of the Philippin ...

season.

International career

Born in

Zamboanga City Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (Chavacano and es, Ciudad de Zamboanga, Tausūg: ''Dāira sin Sambuangan'', fil, Lungsod ng Zamboanga, ceb, Dakbayan sa Zamboanga), is a city in the Zamboanga Peninsula region of the Philippi ...

, Philippines to a Nigerian father and a Filipino mother, Uzoka is eligible to represent either

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

at international level.

Philippines U19

In 2015, Uzoka was called up to the Philippines U19 team for the

2015 AFF U-19 Youth Championship The 2015 AFF U-19 Youth Championship was the 13th edition of the tournament which was held in Laos for the first time between 22 August to 4 September 2015. It was initially going to be played in Indonesia but they were suspended by FIFA in May 2 ...

held at

Laos National Stadium The Laos National Stadium or formally Anouvong Stadium (official name), also known as Vientiane Provincial stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and larg ...

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

, Laos. He made his debut for Philippines U19 in a 4−1 defeat against Thailand U19.

Philippines U23

Uzoka was part of the Philippines U22 squad that competed in the

2019 Southeast Asian Games The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, was the 30th edition of the Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport event which ...

held in the

. He made his debut for the U22 team in a 1–1 draw against Cambodia U22.

References

External links

* Filipino people of Nigerian descent Filipino men's footballers Filipino expatriate sportspeople in Thailand Filipino expatriate men's footballers Living people Chima Uzoka Expatriate men's footballers in Thailand Chima Uzoka Philippines Football League players Global F.C. players Men's association football forwards Ilocos United F.C. players 1998 births Azkals Development Team players Cebu F.C. players {{Philippines-footy-bio-stub