John Ibeh
Nigerian footballer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Ike Ibeh ⓘ (born 16 April 1986) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a left midfielder. He played for several seasons in the Romanian Liga I.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ikechukwu John Kingsley Ibeh | ||
| Date of birth | 16 April 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Port Harcourt, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position | Left midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2003 | AFC | ||
| 2003–2005 | Hapoel Tel Aviv | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2007 | DWS | 15 | (10) |
| 2007–2008 | UTA Arad | 22 | (9) |
| 2009–2011 | Oțelul Galați | 56 | (6) |
| 2012–2013 | Pandurii Târgu Jiu | 29 | (10) |
| 2013 | Aris | 8 | (0) |
| 2017 | Oțelul Galați | 5 | (2) |
| Total | 135 | (37) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22 January 2018 | |||
Career
Ibeh was born on 16 April 1986 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.[1][2][3] In 2001 he went to play junior-level football in Netherlands for AFC.[1][2][3] In 2003 he moved to Israel at Hapoel Tel Aviv.[1][2][3] He started his senior career in 2005, at DWS in the Dutch lower leagues.[1][2][3]
In the middle of the 2007–08 season, Ibeh joined Romanian side UTA Arad, making his Liga I debut on 19 April 2008 under coach Roland Nagy in a 3–0 home loss to CFR Cluj, and his performance was highly regarded by the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper.[1][2][3][4][5] He scored his first goal on 2 May in a 3–2 away victory against Rapid București.[4][6] However, the team was relegated at the end of the season, but Ibeh stayed with the club for the first half of the 2008–09 Liga II season.[1]
Afterwards he left UTA due to unpaid salaries and signed with Oțelul Galați.[1][2][3] In the 2010–11 season, Ibeh played nine league games under coach Dorinel Munteanu, scoring once in a 3–0 away win over Unirea Urziceni, as Oțelul won its first title.[1][7] He started the following season by winning the Supercupa României, being used the entire match by Munteanu in The Steelworkers's 1–0 victory against Steaua București.[1][8] Subsequently, he made two appearances in the 2011–12 Champions League group stage, playing in losses to Basel and Benfica.[1][9]
In February 2012, Ibeh moved to Pandurii Târgu Jiu.[1][10] He netted a personal record of eight goals for Pandurii in the 2012–13 season, starting with a double in a 6–2 victory against Universitatea Cluj, as the team finished runner-up in the league.[1][11] On 29 May 2013, Ibeh made his last Liga I appearance in Pandurii's 1–1 draw against Astra Giurgiu, having a total 90 matches with 17 goals in the competition.[12]
In 2013 he switched countries, going to Aris in Greece.[13] He made his Super League Greece debut on 18 August 2013 under coach Giannis Chatzinikolaou in a 2–1 away loss to Apollon Smyrnis.[1][14] In 2017, Ibeh made a comeback at Oțelul Galați in Liga III.[15]
Personal life
Ibeh was a fan of hip-hop music, appreciating 50 Cent very much.[3] His favorite footballer was Zinedine Zidane.[3]
