Francis Odinaka Uzoho (born 28 October 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Cypriot First Division club Omonia and the Nigeria national team.
![]() Uzoho with Nigeria in 2017 | ||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Francis Odinaka Uzoho | |||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1998-10-28) 28 October 1998 (age 24) | |||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Nwangele, Imo State, Nigeria | |||||||||||||||
Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | |||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | Omonia | |||||||||||||||
Number | 23 | |||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
2013–2016 | Aspire Academy | |||||||||||||||
2017 | Deportivo La Coruña | |||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
2017–2018 | Deportivo B | 26 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2017–2020 | Deportivo La Coruña | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2018–2019 | → Elche (loan) | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2019 | → Anorthosis (loan) | 3 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2019–2020 | → Omonia (loan) | 5 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2020–2021 | APOEL | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||||
2021– | Omonia | 12 | (0) | |||||||||||||
National team‡ | ||||||||||||||||
2017– | Nigeria | 26 | (0) | |||||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 01:44, 29 October 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:54, 14 October 2021 (UTC) |
Born in Nwangele,[1] Uzoho joined the Senegal branch of Aspire Academy in 2013, aged 14;[2] initially a forward, he was converted into a goalkeeper after being deemed "too slow" at the age of 12.[3] In 2016, after impressing on a tournament in Barcelona, he joined Deportivo de La Coruña's Juvenil squad.[3]
Age rules meant that Uzoho could only become available to sign a contract with Dépor in January 2017;[4] shortly after signing his contract, he started to train with the first team.[5] Promoted to the reserve team ahead of the 2017–18 season, he made his senior debut on 10 September by starting in a 3–0 Segunda División B home win against Real Madrid Castilla.[6]
Uzoho made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 15 October 2017, starting in a 0–0 away draw against SD Eibar.[7] At the age of 18 years and 352 days, he became the youngest ever foreign goalkeeper to debut in La Liga, and the second-youngest player to appear in the league during the campaign at that point, only behind Real Madrid's Achraf Hakimi.[8][9]
On 24 August 2018, Uzoho renewed his contract for three seasons[10] and was immediately loaned to Segunda División side Elche CF for one year.[11] In February 2019 he moved on loan to Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta,[12] in the search for more first-team football in the run up to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[13]
After making his debut for the club, concerns were raised about his health certificate.[14] As a result, Anorthosis Famagusta were deducted 9 points, which they appealed.[15] The club's deduction appeal was rejected, although Uzoho's appeal against his personal penalty of a one-match ban and €1,000 fine was successful.[16]
In July 2019 he returned on loan to Cyprus, this time with Omonia.[17] He played a limited number of games, due to a serious injury he suffered while playing for his national team.[18] In July 2020, Uzoho moved permanently to APOEL on a three year contract, but was released at the end of the season.
On 1 September 2021, Uzoho joined Omonia on a three-year deal,[19] as back-up to Fabiano.
On 13 October 2022, Uzoho received praise for his performance against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Europa League. Omonia lost 1–0 to a late goal, but Uzoho made 12 saves on the night.[20] He was nominated for the Europa League Player of the Week and Save of the Day awards.[21]
Uzoho represented Nigeria under-17s at the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Aged only 14, he was an immediate backup to Dele Alampasu.[8][22]
In October 2017 Uzoho received his first call-up to the Nigerian senior squad.[23] He made his full international debut on 14 November, replacing Daniel Akpeyi in a 4–2 friendly win against Argentina.[24]
He was named in Nigeria's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[25] By that time he was considered Nigeria's first-choice goalkeeper.[26]
He withdrew from the national squad in November 2018 due to injury.[27] He was a squad member at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.[28] Uzoho was in goal for Nigeria in the 3rd place match against Tunisia, which they won.[29]
In October 2019 he suffered a ligament injury in a friendly match against Brazil,[18] and underwent surgery in November 2019.[30]
On 25 December 2021, He was shortlisted in 2021 AFCON Nations Cup by caretaker coach Eguavoen as part of the 28-Man Nigeria squad.[31]
On 29 March 2022, Uzoho was in goal for Nigeria in a World Cup qualifier against Ghana. He suffered criticism for his performance, as an error on his behalf led to a goal for Ghana, and ultimately cost his team entry to the World Cup.[32] He tendered an apology, mentioning "I wanted to take my nation to Qatar but rather did the opposite".[33] National teammates and ex-internationals, such as Alex Iwobi and Vincent Enyeama, showed support for Uzoho.[34]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Deportivo B | 2017–18 | Segunda División B | 26 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 0 | ||
Deportivo La Coruña | 2017–18 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
Elche (loan) | 2018–19 | Segunda División | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
Anorthosis (loan) | 2018–19 | Cypriot First Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Omonia (loan) | 2019–20 | Cypriot First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |
APOEL | 2020–21 | Cypriot First Division | 18 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
2021–22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
Total | 19 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
Omonia | 2021–22 | Cypriot First Division | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
2022–23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
Total | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
Career total | 72 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 87 | 0 | ||
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
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Nigeria | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
2018 | 11 | 0 | |
2019 | 4 | 0 | |
2020 | 0 | 0 | |
2021 | 2 | 0 | |
2022 | 8 | 0 | |
Total | 26 | 0 |
Omonia
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AC Omonia – current squad | |
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Nigeria squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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