Emeka Jude Ugali (born 28 May 1982) is a retired Nigerian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

striker.

Career

Club

Withdrawn from Nigeria just sixteen where he played with Princess Jegede, he began his career in Serbian second-level side FK Beograd in season 1998–99.Next summer, he moved to Poland where he joined

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

side

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw (, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing sports club in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, best known for its Association football, football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, Swimming (sport), swimm ...

. During winter-break, he moved to Italy where he joined

F.B.C. Unione Venezia Venezia Football Club is an Italian professional football club based in Venice, Veneto, that currently plays in . They were relegated to Serie B after a 2-3 loss to Juventus. Originally founded as Venezia Foot Ball Club in 1907, the club have ...

, the team of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. From 2000 to 2004 plays in A.C. Monza Brianza 1912, where he lived the peak of his career. In the 2003-2004 Season, The Website ''Monza News'' index a poll for fans to vote for the best player of the season. Ugali withdraws the award ''ARREDOKIT TROPHY'' 2003–04. In later years he played with several smaller teams, both amateur and

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

International career

Ugali plays for the Nigerian national team, having collect 2 caps all in 2002. His debut arrive at 4 May 2002 in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

in a friendly match, ended 3-0 for the Nigerians. The second and last appearance was at 18 May 2002 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

always in a friendly match, ended 0-0.

Disputes

On 23 September 2001, during the match of

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

: A.C. Monza Brianza 1912-

Pisa Calcio Pisa Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Pisa, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Pisa, Tuscany. The club will compete in Serie A in the 2025–26 season. The club was fou ...

(1-2), Ugali was ejected by the referee Latella from

Potenza Potenza (, ; ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one of ...

because the Nigerian player dropped his shorts after a Pisa player had called him "nigger". The President of Calcio Monza, Cesare D'Evant, said after the match that while condemning the incident of racism, that it did not justify the reaction of his player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ugali, Emeka Jude 1982 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Nigeria men's international footballers AC Monza players Venezia FC players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players US 1913 Seregno Calcio players Men's association football forwards FK Beograd (Serbia) players Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia and Montenegro Polonia Warsaw players Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia and Montenegro Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Poland 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen