Chidi Nwanu

Chidi Nwanu (born 1 January 1967 in Port Harcourt) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He won 12 caps for the Nigeria national team, and was part of the squads for the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1988 Summer Olympics. Chidi Nwanu was known as a rugged, relentless, and versatile old-school defender, excelling at strong man-marking, tackling, and bringing stability to the Nigeria Super Eagles' defense, especially at the 1994 World Cup, where he was a solid center-back, surprisingly filling in for legends like Stephen Keshi. He was a dependable, tough-tackling, no-nonsense defender, often described as "solid as a rock" and a "ball-playing defender" with great physical presence. Regarded as one of the best Nigerian centre-backs of his time. 

Club career
Nwanu began his football career with Enyimba in 1983, making his debut for the club in a Nigerian championship match at the age of 16. In 1984, he moved to Spartans and played for them for two years. In 1986, he continued his career with the capital's club ACB Lagos. In 1988, the team's coach, Patrick Ekeji asked Nwanu to leave the team because he considered him "useless". The player remained at ACB for less than six months, after which he decided to leave the country.

His first European club was the Belgian Westerlo, which was then playing in the third division. He spent the entire 1989/1990 season with the Belgian club and in the summer moved to the team a division higher, Diest. The season ended for Diest in 11th place. However, thanks to his performance, in the summer of 1991 Nwanu signed a contract with the Belgian championship club Beveren. In his first season, the Nigerian immediately took a place in the starting lineup - he played in 30 matches and scored a goal. In the 1992/1993 season, he finished 8th in the league with his club and played in 31 matches, scoring 2 goals. Nwanu also started the 1993/1994 season with Beveren and played 14 matches in the first half of the season.

However, in the winter of 1994, the defender moved to one of the most famous clubs in Belgium, Anderlecht. In the league, he played in 9 matches, won the Belgian championship and the Belgian Cup, and also took part in 4 Champions League matches. In the 1994/1995 season, Nwanu's compatriot Celestine Babayaro joined Anderlecht , but Chidi lost his place in the starting lineup and appeared on the field in only 5 league matches and 2 in the Champions League. That season, the club won the Belgian championship for the second time in a row. In the summer of 1995, he was loaned to Sint-Truiden . For this team, he played 18 matches in the championship and helped the club maintain its place in the league - Sint-Truiden finished 15th. In the 1996/1997 season he returned to Anderlecht from loan, but only appeared on the field in 2 matches and decided to leave the club in the winter.

Nwanu's new club was Dutch side Waalwijk. He played in only four matches during the spring of the 1996/1997 season, as the club finished 16th in the league and retained its place in the championship through the playoffs. The 1997/1998 season was also unsuccessful for Chidi, with him appearing only three times. At the end of the season, the player decided to end his career. He currently serves as a pastor in the United States.

International career
In 1988, Nwanu was a member of the Nigerian Olympic team that competed in the Seoul Olympics. The central defender played in two of Manfred Höhner's three group stage matches. However, the tournament ended in defeat for Nigeria, with 0 points and a 1-8 goal difference, and the team was eliminated.

In 1994, he came close to participating in the Africa Cup of Nations, but was ultimately left out of the squad, losing out to competition from team captain Stephen Keshi, among others. That same year, coach Clemens Westerhof included Nwanu in the squad for the World Cup in the United States . Shortly before the final tournament, Keshi was injured, and Nwanu became the Super Eagles' main defender, forming a central defensive partnership with Uche Okechukwu. He was one of only three Nigerians at the tournament, along with Peter Rufai and Ochechukwu, to play every match from start to finish. Nigeria finished first in their group and were eliminated in the round of 16, losing 2-1 after extra time to Italy.

In 1997, Nwanu was called up for the 1-1 draw with Kenya in the qualifying round for the World Cup in France , and played the full 90 minutes. As it later turned out, this was his last match for the national team. Nwanu appeared in 20 matches for the Nigerian national team and did not score a single goal.

Honours
Belgian Championship: 1994, 1995
Belgian Cup: 1994

References

Category:1967 births
Category:Living people
Category:Nigerian footballers
Category:Association football defenders
Category:Olympians for Nigeria