Peter Odemwingie

Osaze Peter Odemwingie , (born July 15, 1981 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan , Soviet Union), is a Nigerian football player born to a Russian mother and a Nigerian father. His name, Osaze, means " God chooses (for you)".[1] He played as a striker for Ligue 1 side OSC Lille , but recently after much speculation moved to Russian Premier League side Lokomotiv[1]. Peter Odemwingie born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan Odemwingie chose to pledge his allegiances to the Super Eagles of Nigeria . Odemwingie first plied his trade with CSKA Moscow as a youngster. He soon moved on to the Belgian club La Louviere and made his mark by helping the club to win the Belgian Cup his first year playing. Scoring 9 goals in 44 appearances got the attention of the Lille managing team and before long he was starting on the squad in the French Ligue 1. Famous for his technique and pace, the Nigerian player is being watched by some of the prestigious European clubs [2]. He had indicated he wanted to stay at Lille and help them fight for the league next season and had already scored 5 goals for them in the 2006-07 season[citation needed] and two against AC Milan at the San Siro to take Lille to the UEFA Champions League knockout stages, but the club couldn't resist a €17 million offer. [edit] National Team Odemwingie has 20 caps and 5 goals to his name with the Nigeria. He has also played with Nigeria in the 2004 African Cup of Nations, scoring 3 goals in 5 games and the 2006 African Cup of Nations were he played in the semi-final losing to Ivory Coast 1-0. He has recently been included in Nigeria squad to play in the 2008 African Cup of Nations and played in recent friendlies versus Switzerland [3]and Sudan [4] which Nigeria won in both games.