He might not be trading his services with juggernauts like Real Madrid, Chelsea or the two Manchester clubs but Nigeria’s Stanley Ohawuchi is fast making a name for himself with one of the continent’s best clubs.
A member of the Nigeria Flying Eagles squad that suffered an abysmal run in U-20 World Cup 2009, crashing out in the round-16, Stanley is today a big presence in the Egyptian League.
A deadly bomb in front of goal on his day in office, Stanley is one of the reasons for return of the buzz at Zamalek, a club ranked sixth best in Africa by Football database.
Brought by former club Wadi Degla, from Maltese Premier League’s Sliema Wanderers whom he guided to a fourth-place finish that year on an impressive goal return of sixteen –two goals shy of catching up league top scorer Tarabai Santos – Stanley’s signing had tongues wagging.
The pro-Wadi Degla press wasted no time to cast skepticism over the acquisition of the Nigerian, questioning chairman Maged Samy ‘audacity’ to rely on an ‘unfinished’ product plucked from Malta.
However, Nka Ohawuchi let his football do the talking ad would go on to amass adulations from the unlikeliest of sources, the very medium that doubted his pedigree.
That term, the 26-year-old replicated his sixteen goal-haul in Malta, in Egypt, completing the campaign as the club’s top goal-getter, four goals short of matching league top scorer Daklyeh’s Hossam Salama Paulo’s 20-goal feat.
The subsequent 2015 season, the ex-Heartland attacker contended with 11 goals, six behind 32-year-old Paulo again as injuries blighted his lethal goal form.
Zamalek, being the big boys of the league they are, decided to test Wadi’s resolve to part with their striker. Aware of his proliferating worth, the latter slapped a ridiculous $2m price tag that left five times African champions Zamalek red-faced.
At the time, the erstwhile Nigerian Youth international had netted five times in six games and was the league top-scorer.
Desperate to retain the domestic trophy the Royal Team, amid fierce competition from direct title rivals Al Ahly and seeing the Nigerian man as the perfect bolt to their missing piece, brokered an agreement with Wadi chairman Maged Samy.
A final 12-month loan deal was pushed through with the fee quoted to be in excess of €600,000 including an option of a permanent deal at elapse of the contract June next year.
€600,000 is an astronomical figure in the African transfer market and there’s little room for excuse for a footballer bought in that region not to deliver.
The former Beleares attacker though is beginning to live to expectations and his contribution couldn’t have cone at a better time, scoring a last-gasp winner in the semis against Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca to send Zamalek to October’s double-legged Orange Caf Champions League final.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]‘Thanks to God for yesterday and today’s journey mercy back to Cairo..time to concentrate and focus on the next game,’[/perfectpullquote]
he said on twitter hours after his goal, adding, ‘…..One leg to the final but full concentration for the second leg’
The diminutive built player’s rise to prominence did not come without toils. A five –year deal signed with Spanish second tier side Atletico Baleares in 2012 would have perhaps seen his career take a different trajectory had the Spanish embassy in Lagos not denied him visa.
The forward penned a contract with Atletico who issued him a work permit but the Lagos-based Spanish embassy’s decision not to grant him work /residence visa meant Ohawuchi is unable to travel down to Spain.
To the current sensation he has metamorphosed into, with his latest award as best foreign player last season in Egypt further enhancing his worth, it’s beyond imagination how various Super Eagle coaches have overlooked his talent at least in their provisional squads.
Featured Photo: Courtesy of Stanley’s twitter’s page
