Samuel Okunowo
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel Gbenga Okunowo | ||
| Date of birth | 1 March 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Ibadan, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Right back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1993–1995 | Kwara Bombers | ||
| 1997–1998 | Barcelona | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1997 | Shooting Stars | ||
| 1998–2001 | Barcelona | 14 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | → Benfica (loan) | 9 | (1) |
| 2000–2001 | → Badajoz (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2003 | Ionikos | 0 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Dinamo Bucureşti | 2 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | KF Tirana | 0 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Metalurh Donetsk | 2 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | → Stal (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2009 | VB Sports | 4 | (0) |
| 2009 | Waltham Forest | 0 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Sunshine Stars | 30 | (3) |
| Total | 72 | (4) | |
| National team | |||
| 1999 | Nigeria U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 1997–2000 | Nigeria | 8 | (0) |
| 2000 | Nigeria Olympic | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Samuel Gbenga Okunowo (born 1 March 1979) is a Nigerian retired footballer who played mainly as a right back.
Injury affected the vast majority of his professional career, which was spent in eight different countries other than his own.
Born in Ibadan, Okunowo signed with La Liga club FC Barcelona at only 18. In the 1998–99 season he competed for the starting spot in the main squad with Michael Reiziger, and managed 21 appearances all competitions comprised (15 starts) as the Catalans went on to win the national championship.
However, Okunowo did not manage to remain with Barça, going on to serve two unassuming loans, with Portugal's S.L. Benfica and Spanish second division club CD Badajoz and being released in June 2002. He went on to represent – with very little impact as well – teams in four different countries: Greece, Romania, Albania and Ukraine.
In 2007, Okunowo was on trial at Northwich Victoria of the Conference National and Vilanova del Camí in the Spanish amateur leagues, but nothing came of it. Two years later, he returned to active with VB Sports Club in the Maldives. However, in October 2009, he joined England's Waltham Forest, playing in a league eight levels below the Premier League.
In February 2010, Okunowo underwent a trial with Polish Ekstraklasa side Odra Wodzislaw, in an attempt to return to top flight football, but nothing materialized. He also met the same fate whilst looking for a club in Norway.
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Wikipedia