Former Super Eagles striker Ikechukwu Uche is enjoying his Africa Cup of Nations, his only trophy with the national team. PUNCH the reports
The former striker of Villarreal and Getafe expressed this in an interview with La Liga Tv.
Sunday Mba scored a brilliant winner as Nigeria won the AFCON for the third time in South Africa in 2013.
Known for his acrobatic goal celebrations and dazzling performances, Uche made 46 appearances for the three-time African champions and scored 19 goals.
The 39-year-old, who made his debut for Nigeria under Berti Vogts in a friendly against Macedonia in 2007, said he was delighted to represent the country and win the AFCON.
He said: “Playing for Nigeria is another big dream that I was able to achieve.
“It’s always been my dream to play in Nigeria and I was very happy that I was able to achieve that and it’s not something that happened once but I’ve been able to play a lot of games in Nigeria.
“I am very happy to have achieved this, to come out of Nigeria and go to Spain to play in the league to gain experience is something I really appreciate, then to be invited to play for the Super Eagles is one of my greatest moments.
“I also represented Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations and I had the opportunity to be one of the people who will say we won the AFCON and honestly, I can’t ask for more.”
Uche spent most of his professional career in Spain, having arrived in the country before the age of 20. He amassed a total of 194 league appearances and 42 goals in nine seasons, representing Recreativo, Getafe, Zaragoza, Villarreal, Granada and in the competition. Málaga
The striker expressed his satisfaction with the great presence of African players in Spain.
“I am happy to see many Africans playing in the League, when I was there we were very few Africans but now more players from the continent are coming and we have Djené (Dakonam), who is now the captain of Getafe. Samuel Chukwueze, Yassine Bounou and others.
Uche started in 2002 with European side Racing de Ferrol in Spain’s second division and spent one season at the club before joining Recreativo in Huelva, where he helped the team win the Second Division title.
The striker gave a great performance to Recreativo during his two-year stay and in 2007 he moved to Getafe.
Uche also played for Real Zaragoza before moving to Villarreal Liga, where he was very successful.
He spent four years at Yellow Submarine and made over 90 appearances for the club in all competitions.
The forward left Villarreal for Tigres UANL in Mexico and last played for Gimnastic de Tarragona.
