Joseph Enakarhire (born 6 November 1982) is a Nigerian former 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 lea ...

. He could play as either a

right 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 ...

or a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Club career

Born in

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri, Udu, Okpe and Uvwie are the commercial ...

, Enakarhire impressed at a young age at

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

before moving to

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

in 2004–05, signing a four-year contract and eventually becoming first-choice. However, after just one season, he was sold to Russia's big spenders

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', , ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footba ...

. Unsettled, Enakarhire was loaned, in August 2006, to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

side

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

, as another former Sporting defender, Beto, left for

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

also on loan. He was relatively used during the campaign and after the French decided against signing him permanently, he joined

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Panathinaikos FC Panathinaikos Football Club ( ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', ), is a Greek professional Association football, footbal ...

on a season-long loan. In July 2009, Enakarhire had an unsuccessful trial with

FC Metz Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

. In the following year, he met the same fate at

Odense Boldklub Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city of Odense, in southern Denmark. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play ...

and

FC Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus (Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the reunification of Germany, Energie played six seasons i ...

. In late June 2012, after four years out of football, Enakarhire was signed by

S.P. La Fiorita Società Polisportiva La Fiorita is a Sammarinese multi-sports club, best known for its football section, based in Montegiardino. The club was founded in 1967. Fiorita currently plays in ''Girone A'' of Campionato Sammarinese di Calcio. The team' ...

to boost the

Sammarinese Sammarinese () are citizens and people of the Republic of San Marino. Language San Marino recognizes Italian as the official language. The indigenous Sammarinese language is a variety of Romagnol spoken by approximately 83 percent of the populati ...

club's first campaign in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. In March of the following year he changed teams and countries again, joining

Latvian Higher League Latvian Higher League or Virslīga, also known as TonyBet Virslīga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Latvia and the highest level of the Latvian football league system. Organised by the Latvian Footbal ...

champions

FC Daugava FC Daugava was a Latvian football club, based at the Daugava Stadium, in the city of Daugavpils. It was founded as FC Ditton in 2001. They lastly played in the Latvian Second League in 2015. They were one of two simultaneous clubs with the na ...

but being released after only four months.

International career

A Nigeria international since 2003, Enakarhire appeared with the ''Super Eagles'' at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2006 Africa Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split int ...

. He was an undisputed starter in the latter tournament as the country finished third, only conceding three goals.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Enakarhire, Joseph 1982 births Living people Footballers from Warri Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Belgian Pro League players Standard Liège players Primeira Liga players Sporting CP footballers Russian Premier League players FC Dynamo Moscow players Ligue 1 players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Super League Greece players Panathinaikos F.C. players SP La Fiorita players FC Daugava players Nigeria men's international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in San Marino Expatriate men's footballers in Latvia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Latvia 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen