Rita Chikwelu

Nigerian footballer

Rita Chikwelu
Personal information
Chikwelu with Umeå IK on 24 July 2011
Date of birth	(1988-03-06) 6 March 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Asaba, Nigeria
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)^[1]
Position(s)	Forward, midfielder
Team information
Current team	Al Shabab
Youth career
	Cold City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
0000–2005	Akwa Starlets
2006–2009	FC United		(28)
2010–2016	Umeå IK	140	(16)
2017–2019	Kristianstad	64	(12)
2020–2022	Madrid CFF	64	(5)
2022–2023	Levante Las Planas	8	(0)
2023–	Al Shabab	8	(2)
International career^‡
2007–	Nigeria	33	(15)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 November 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 5 July 2011

Rita Chikwelu (born 6 March 1988) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward and midfielder for the Saudi Women's Premier League club Al Shabab and the Nigeria women's national team. She previously played for Swedish sides Umeå IK and Kristianstads DFF^[2] and later for the Spanish clubs Madrid CFF and Levante Las Planas.

Club career

From 2006 to 2009, Chikwelu played in Finland for FC United. She was the top scorer of the Finnish women's league Naisten Liiga in 2009 with 22 goals.^[3]

Chikwelu spent seven seasons with Umeå IK from 2010 to 2016, but left upon the club's relegation and joined Kristianstads DFF on a two-year contract.^[4] She later transferred to Madrid CFF and Levante Las Planas in Spain. In August 2023, she signed for Saudi club Al Shabab.^[5]

International career

Chikwelu participated in the FIFA U-20 World Cup from 2004 to 2008 and made her senior national team debut in 2007 at the FIFA women's World Cup. She was a member of the Nigerian Olympic team which participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics in China and a member of the Nigerian squad in the 2011 FIFA women's World Cup.^[6]

Honours

African Women's Championship Winner: 2016, 2018

References

^ "Athlete Biography: CHIKWELU Rita". Beijing2008.cn. The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008.
^ "Rita Chikwelu profile". Umeå IK. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
^ "Naisten Liiga scorers 2006–2011". Finnish Football Association. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2013.
^ Fredriksson, Emelie (26 November 2016). "Rita Chikwelu klar för Kristianstads DFF" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
^ "Transfer: Super Falcons midfielder completes Al Shabab transfer". Daily Post Nigeria. 24 August 2023.
^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rita Chikwelu". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2009.

External links

Media related to Rita Chikwelu at Wikimedia Commons

Rita Chikwelu – FIFA competition record (archived)
FIFA.com – Article on Rita Chikwelu
FC United – Picture of Rita and FC United team
FIFA.com – Photo album
Rita Chikwelu at the Swedish Football Association (in Swedish) (archived)
Rita Chikwelu at Soccerway
Rita Chikwelu at Olympedia
Rita Chikwelu at Olympics.com

Nigeria squads
v t e Nigeria squad – 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
1 Dede 2 Ekpo 3 Yusuf 4 Nkwocha 5 Ebi 6 Otuwe 7 Mbachu 8 Chiejine 9 Chukwudi 10 Chikwelu 11 Igbo 12 Oluehi 13 George (c) 14 Ikidi 15 Mmadu 16 Jerome 17 Kudaisi 18 Uwak 19 Cole 20 Eke 21 Ayegba Coach: Effiom

v t e Nigeria women's football squad – 2008 Summer Olympics
1 Dede 2 Ekpo 3 Yusuf 4 Nkwocha 5 Ebi 6 Ajayi 7 Mbachu 8 Chiejine 9 Michael 10 Chikwelu 11 Cole 12 Uwak 13 George 14 Ikidi 15 Ishola 16 Jerome 17 Eduviere 18 Oluehi Coach: Ladipo

v t e Nigeria squad – 2008 African Women's Championship third place
1 Dede 2 Ekpo 3 Yusuf 4 Nkwocha 5 Ebi 6 Otuwe 7 Mbachu 8 Chiejine 9 Chukwudi 10 Chikwelu 11 Igbo 12 Oluehi 13 George 14 Ikidi 15 Mmadu 16 Jerome 17 Kudaisi 18 Uwak 19 Cole 20 Eke 21 Ayegba Coach: Ladipo

v t e Nigeria squad – 2010 African Women's Championship winners (8th title)
1 Dede 2 Ohale 3 Sadoh 4 Nkwocha 5 Chukwunonye 6 Ukaonu 7 Mbachu 8 Orji 9 Oparanozie 10 Chikwelu 11 Iroka 12 Oluehi 13 Okoronkwo 14 Okobi 15 Ebi 16 Jerome 17 Ordega 18 Ayila 19 Akpa 20 Sunday 21 Ajagba Coach: Uche

v t e Nigeria squad – 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup
1 Dede (c) 2 Kalu 3 Ohale 4 Nkwocha 5 Ebi 6 Ukaonu 7 Mbachu 8 Orji 9 Oparanozie 10 Chikwelu 11 Iroka 12 Michael 13 Chukwudi 14 Ikidi 15 Chukwunonye 16 Oluehi 17 Ordega 18 Jerome 19 Sunday 20 Aighewi 21 Jonathan Coach: Uche

v t e Nigeria squad – 2012 African Women's Championship fourth place
1 Dede 2 Nwabuoku 3 Ebere 4 Nkwocha 5 Ebi 6 Akpa 7 Mbachu 8 Ohadugha 9 Ogbiagbevha 10 Chikwelu 11 Iroka 12 Chukwunonye 13 Okobi 14 Sunday 15 Jegede 16 Oluehi 17 Oshoala 18 Ukaonu 19 Orji 20 Chukwudi 21 Whyte Coach: Ikhana

v t e Nigeria squad – 2016 Africa Women Cup of Nations winners (10th title)
1 Whyte 2 Michael 3 Ohale 4 Igbinovia 5 Ebi 6 Ebere 7 Wogu 8 Oshoala 9 Oparanozie 10 Chikwelu 11 E. Sunday 12 Akpa 13 Okobi 14 Nwabuoku 15 Njoku 16 Jonathan 17 Ordega 18 Ayinde 19 Obi 20 U. Sunday 21 Akarekor Coach: Omagbemi

v t e Nigeria squad – 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations winners (11st title)
1 Oluehi 2 Ogbonna 3 Ohale 4 Ebere 5 Ebi 6 Chukwunonye 7 Imo 8 Oshoala 9 Oparanozie 10 Chikwelu 11 Uchendu 12 Okoronkwo 13 Okobi-Okeoghene 14 Michael 15 Ajibade 16 Nnadozie 17 Ordega 18 Ayinde 19 Ihezuo 20 Nnodim 21 Ohiaeriaku Coach: Dennerby

v t e Nigeria squad – 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
1 Oluehi 2 Okoronkwo 3 Ohale 4 Ebere 5 Ebi 6 Nwabuoku 7 Imo 8 Oshoala 9 Oparanozie (c) 10 Chikwelu 11 Uchendu 12 Kanu 13 Okobi-Okeoghene 14 Michael 15 Ajibade 16 Nnadozie 17 Ordega 18 Ayinde 19 Ihezuo 20 Okeke 21 Jonathan 22 Ogebe 23 Chukwudi Coach: Dennerby

v t e Nigeria squad – 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations fourth place
1 Oluehi 2 Monday 3 Ohale 4 Plumptre 5 Ebi 6 Kanu 7 T. Payne 8 Oshoala 9 Onumonu 10 Chikwelu 11 Otu 12 Ogbonna 13 Okobi 14 Ikechukwu 15 Ajibade 16 Nnadozie 17 Ordega 18 Ayinde 19 Ogbonna 20 Alozie 21 Balogun 22 Efih 23 Ucheibe 24 Macleans 26 N. Payne Coach: Waldrum