Ogenyi Eddy Onazi (born 25 December 1992) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club, Lazio and the Nigeria national football team.
Club career
Early years in Nigeria
Onazi began playing football on the streets of Jos at a tender age in 1998. His football skills and abilities drew a lot of attention to him and afforded him the opportunity to play in some academies in the city.
His footballing abilities came to prominence when he moved to the city of Lagos to play for My People, a team founded and funded by Senior Prophet T.B Joshua.
Lazio
Onazi joined Lazio in 2011, alongside his teammate, Sani Emmanuel. The pair trailed in Italy following their impressive performances at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, in which Nigeria reached the final on home soil, losing to Switzerland.
Onazi was first promoted to the Lazio first team during the 2011–12 seasons after impressing at youth level. He made his Serie A debut as a substitute in the penultimate match of the season, replacing Senad Lulic in the 90th minute. Lazio recorded a 2-0 victory over Atalanta at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia in Bergamo.
Under Coach Vladimir Petkovic, Onazi was granted more playing time alongside Cristian Ledesma in a defensive midfielder role. Notably, Onazi started in a UEFA Europa League match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, which ended in a 0-0 draw.
On 7 March 2013, Onazi scored his first goal for Lazio against Stuttgart in the last sixteen of the Europa League. The game ended 2–0 to Lazio. Onazi scored his first Serie A goal in a 3–1 win over Inter Milan on 8 May 2013.
International career
As a 16-year old, Onazi represented his country at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, where Nigeria finished runners-up.
However, Onazi was overlooked for selection at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup two years later, despite participating in the training camps in Portugal and Panama.
He made his debut for the senior Nigeria national team in an African Cup of Nations qualification match against Liberia.
Onazi's first goal came in just his second international match, a 3-1 friendly win over Venezuela in Florida.
He was called up to Nigeria's 23-man squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.[6] Onazi came on as a substitute in Nigeria's first match of the tournament against Burkina Faso, whom they would eventually face again in the final. Notably, Onazi played every minute of all Nigeria's games in the knockout phase, including the final.
He was selected for Nigeria's squad at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, but missed out of the tournament as he suffered a slight knee knock a few weeks before the competition.
Onazi was named in Nigeria's final squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and started in all four games as Nigeria finished second in their group and were eliminated by France at the Round of 16.
In the game against France, Onazi suffered a horror tackle from French midfielder Blaise Matuidi which forced him out of the game with a suspected fracture which turned out to be a sprain.
Onazi offered a hand of support to Matuidi who received knocks from football fans over the world including the legendary Diego Maradona who protested to FIFA, saying Matuidi's tackle on Onazi was worse than Luis Suarez's bite on Giorgio Chielini.
Culled from wikipedia
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