OGBECHE IS A FIGHTER

OGBECHE IS A FIGHTER

 BARTHOLOMEW OGBECHE WHEN HE WAS WELCOMED OFFICIALLY AT CAMBUR

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU

Except Coach Stephen Keshi of the Super Eagles of Nigeria continues his eccentricity of  inviting  players to camp based on self serving reasons rather than ability, Bartholomew Ogbeche, Forgotten Super Eagles and Nigerian International who now plies his trade with Cambur in The Dutch Eredivisie deserves a call up into the team soon.

Recently the Super Eagles gaffer stunned the football world when eh declared that an inform Obafemi Martins of Seattle Sounders in the Major soccer League was too old at 30 years despite the fact that he has weighed in with 17 goals as at press time.

It would be recalled that Shola Ameobi who was playing for Newcastle in England last season only scored once all through the season and at 32 years still made it to the World Cup held recently, under Keshi’s tutelage.

As at the last count in about 20 games or even more since Ogbeche joined Cambur in 2012,he has scored at least 11 times in all competitions for the modest side in Holland.

Fast track this down the memory lane and a yo9ung man who was still trying to cut his teeth in European Football was under pressure by his nation to be an instant star at the World Cup in 2002 after impressing in a friendly with a spectacular overhead kick which caught the imagination of the technical crew led by coach Adegboye Onigbinde thus getting him an instant call up.

He has however played for a host of European sides in the last decade as he tried to convince the watching faithful that he was not a flash in the pan.

He has scored over 50 goals in his club career in all competitions as at press time.

 As a youngster, Ogbeche was bought by French Ligue 1 team Paris Saint-Germain FC, making his debuts with the first team during the 2001–02 season. However, he failed to settle at the club, also suffering a thigh injury and serving two six-month loans, to fellow league teams SC Bastia and FC Metz; for the former, he netted in a 4–1 home win against Olympique de Marseille on 7 March 2004 - the Corsicans secured their top flight status, and he left PSG for good in June 2005.

After a brief time in the United Arab Emirates Ogbeche moved to Spain, first with Deportivo Alavés in Segunda División. Although he posted good individual numbers, the Basque team failed to return to the top division but he joined another club in the main category, Real Valladolid, making his league debut on 26 August 2007 in a 1–0 away win against RCD Espanyol (12 minutes played).

In late August 2009, after two seasons of intermittent use, Ogbeche arranged a one-year deal with Andalusia's Cádiz CF, in the second level. He finished the season as the club's top scorer, but it finished in 19th position and was relegated.

After one year in Greece with Kavala FC, Ogbeche joined Football League Championship team Middlesbrough on 18 October 2011, signing until the end of the season. On 17 December he scored his first goal for his new club, against Cardiff City in a 3–2 away win; on 6 March 2012 he came on as a substitute towards the end of the home game against Barnsley, lobbing the ball over Luke Steele for the final 2–0.

In 2014 Ogbeche continued his career in the Netherlands, signing at SC Cambuur until the end of the 2013-2014 Eredivisie season. In his first match for the Dutch side, Ogbeche scored one goal and made one assist.

International career

A Nigerian international since 2002, aged 18, Ogbeche was picked for that year's FIFA World Cup, and appeared in two group stage matches in an eventual group stage exit.