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Ex-International Odemwingie hangs boots

By Daily Sports on April 5, 2019

Former Nigeria international Peter Odemwingie has retired from football at the age of 37.

The striker, who last played for Indonesian side Madura FC in 2017, announced the decision to hang up his boots at the Uefa Equal Game conference at Wembley on Wednesday.

“It’s an emotional day, so many memories go through your head,” Odemwingie told the audience.

“I didn’t know how to do it or where to do it, but I think this is the right place to do it. Wembley is a place with a lot of history in football.”

The attacker also shed light on his next move in the game: “The next chapter is slowly building up to a coaching career,” he continued, “and hopefully I will be coaching in the Premier League one day.”

The 37-year-old began his career with Nigerian outfit Bendel Insurance before moving to

Belgium in 2004 to team up with La Louviere.

Successful stints in France and Russia, with

Lille and Lokomotiv Moscow respectively, followed, before the dynamic Uzbekistan-born forward caught the eye of Premier League suitors.

In 2010, he joined West Bromwich Albion, where he scored 30 goals in 87 top flight appearances and won three Player of the Month accolade (September 2010, April 2011 and February 2012).

On the back of an infamous 2013 transfer deadline-day fiasco, where he turned up at Queens Park Rangers attempting to engineer a move, Odemwingie left the Baggies under a cloud and went on to don the colours of Cardiff City, Stoke City and Rotherham United before leaving English football for Indonesian top flight side Madura FC in 2017.

Internationally, Odemwingie – whose mother is Russian – chose to represent Nigeria (his father's country) and made his debut on May 4, 2002, coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 victory over Kenya.

He represented the Super Eagles at four African Cup of Nations editions (2004, 2006, 2008 and as captain in 2010), and in 2008 was named as an overage player as the Dream Team V secured the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.

Odemwingie also played at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, scoring the winner against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Brazil that ultimately secured the West Africans' passage to the Last 16.

He scored 10 goals in 63 caps for Nigeria. (Goal)

•Photo shows Osaze Odemwingie

Source Daily Sports

Posted April 5, 2019