Christian Obodo
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christian Udubuesi Obodo | ||
| Date of birth | 11 May 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Warri, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defensive Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Plateau United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2004 | Perugia | 62 | (1) |
| 2004–2005 | Fiorentina | 33 | (2) |
| 2005–2012 | Udinese | 78 | (6) |
| 2010–2011 | → Torino (loan) | 16 | (1) |
| 2011–2012 | → Lecce (loan) | 23 | (0) |
| 2013 | Dinamo Minsk | 1 | (0) |
| 2014 | Olhanense | 13 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Skoda Xanthi | 28 | (2) |
| 2016 | Concordia Chiajna | 17 | (4) |
| 2016 | Pandurii Târgu Jiu | 9 | (1) |
| 2017 | Apollon Smyrnis | 17 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2004–2008 | Nigeria | 21 | (4) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 June 2017. |
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Christian Obodo (born 11 May 1984 in Warri, Nigeria) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. He was briefly kidnapped upon a visit to his native Nigeria in June 2012.
He was plucked from relative obscurity in the Nigerian league, playing for Plateau United before he became one of the hottest properties in the Italian Serie A where he had a brilliant season at Perugia. He scored his first ever Serie A goal in a 2–2 draw against Inter at the end of the season 2003.
Fiorentina signed him as a key part of their renovation as the team came back to Serie A in 2004. They only bought half the registration rights and in 2005 La Viola and Perugia were forced to make a blind auction to decide his future. Perugia won the auction but immediately sold him to Udinese.
Obodo played his first UEFA Champions League with Le zebrette in 2005–06 season. Partnered with Sulley Muntari, they formed a strong midfielder role up until Muntari's exit for Portsmouth F.C. in 2007.
On 28 January 2014, the Portuguese side S.C. Olhanense announced they had agreed to a deal with Obodo after playing in a training game against Lokomotiv Moscow.
In 2001, Obodo played for the Flying Eagles coached by Stephen Keshi at the African Youth Championship in Ethiopia. Though the team crashed out of the tournament with just one point from 3 games, Obodo showed a lot of promise in a team that had other players such as Bartholomew Ogbeche and Christopher Justice.
Obodo is regarded by many as one of the most skilful and talented midfielders to play for the Super Eagles since the 1994 era. Little wonder, a sports radio personality and media mogul – noted for nicknaming Nigerian footballers – describes him as bundle of skills, a phrase which later stuck and is now synonymous with Obodo's skilfulness.
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