The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ike Uche

  • Ike Uche misses Spanish honours list

    Ike Uche misses Spanish honours list

    Super Eagles striker, Ikechukwu Uche has been left out of the list of the best XI players in the first round of the La Liga, despite his explosive goal scoring form.

    The Villarreal striker has scored 11 goals from 16 appearances so far in the La Liga this season.

    The team was chosen by the Liga de Futbol Profesional [LFP].

    In goal, Atletico Madrid shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois starts, leading a back three of teammate Filipe Luis, Aymeric Laporte of Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal’s Mateo Musacchio.

    The Yellow Submarine’s Bruno Soriano plays at the base of a midfield diamond, with Ivan Rakitic of Sevilla and Atleti’s Koke either side. Barcelona graduate Cesc Fabregas plays at the tip of the four.

    An exciting attacking trio is led by leading goalscorer Diego Costa, with Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo on the left and Real Sociedad wide man Antoine Griezmann the other side.

    Costa, Ronaldo and Griezmann have scored 19, 18 and 12 goals respectively.

  • Ike Uche excited with hat-trick

    Ike Uche excited with hat-trick

    Nigerian striker, Ikechukwu Uche has taken the time to reflect on his hat-trick that helped Villarreal thrash Rayo Vallecano 5-2 at Vallecas Teresa Rivero on match day 18 of the Primera División.

    The forward netted the first, fourth and fifth goals of the encounter on Monday as the Yellow Submarine surged up to sixth on the standings.

    Speaking to club’s official website, www.villarrealcf.es , the striker said his heroics on Monday night would not have been achieved if he did not receive the support of his teammates.

    “I’ll take the great work of (my teammates) who have left everything on the field (on Monday) so I could score three goals.

    I am happy not only for the goals, but because we have started the year with a win and the truth is that I hope we can continue like this,” he said.

    Monday’s milestone meant that Uche became the third Villarreal player to score a hat-trick in the Primera División after Diego Forlan and Juan Roman Riquelme.

    He is also the first Nigerian player to score a hat-trick in Spain’s top flight since his elder brother, Kalu, performed the trick, also against Rayo, on March 11, 2012.

    The enormity of the accomplishment was not lost on the 30-year-old who promptly dedicated the goals to his teammates.

    “It’s my first hat-trick and that is why I want to dedicate to the team. The work being done by the team is outstanding.

    This team fights for victory in every game and we are where we are. It’s all the result of (hard) work,” he said.

    Uche’s solid display against Rayo means he’s likely to be one of the first names on Marcelino’s team sheet when Villarreal arrives at Estadio Municipal de Anoeta to face Real Soceidad in the Copa del Rey on Thursday.

    The Nigerian concluded by discussing today’s game, predicting that it will be a tough encounter.

    “It’s not going to be an easy game because we know the quality (that Real Soceidad possesses), but you have to play well to get a good result and see what happens in the second leg,” he said.

    Uche has now scored nine league goals this season.

  • Villarreal coach hails fantastic Ike Uche

    Villarreal coach hails fantastic Ike Uche

    Villarreal boss Marcelino said he was delighted with Super Eagles ace, Ikechukwu Uche as well as the other players after their display in the 5-2 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano.

    Uche scored a hat-trick while Jeremy Perbet netted a brace to ensure a comfortable Sunday evening for the Yellow Submarines, who moved back into the European places on their return to the top flight after last season’s relegation.

    “I thought we played with pace, accuracy and confidence, yet I didn’t expect a performance such as this,” Marcelino told Onda Cero’s Al Primer Toque programme afterwards.

    “I’m delighted to have won 5-2 away from home at a ground that is not considered easy to come to.

    “Rayo are a team that press a lot and impose a very high rhythm in their matches, but we go away having played really well.

    “Our idea beforehand was to be organised and make our opponents feel uncomfortable. Then, we wanted to take advantage of the spaces Rayo would leave at the back because they get a lot of men behind the ball.

    “Overall I think we combined very well but I did not believe we would be at this level, although I have great trust in this squad.

    “I hoped for a lot from them but to be rubbing shoulders with the best teams, including the top three who we gave some trouble, even I did not expect.”

  • Villarreal coach warns Ike Uche, mates: We must end poor home run today

    Villarreal coach warns Ike Uche, mates: We must end poor home run today

    OUT-OF-FAVOUR Super Eagles and Villarreal forward, Ikechukwu Uche and mates have been urged by club boss, Marcelino Garcia Toral to end their run of four games in all competitions at home without a win, by beating Sevilla today.

    Uche and his Yellow Submarine pals head into Week 17’s fixture without a win in their last four games at El Madrigal between League and Cup and with their coach eager for that to change.

    “We want to break the winless streak at home, the day against Malaga we should have won and against Elche we paid for our errors,” mused Marcelino to reporters Friday.

    “Tiny details did not fall on our side and prevented victory. And, Sevilla may have been knocked out of the Cup, but it will not affect them, they are on a very good run and are improving.

    “They are a powerful and physical team with a great counter-attack and players who are very fast and are accurate in front of goal.

    “They have a great squad and will be up there come the end of the season, I am sure. We must be very focused at the back and in our defensive work.”

  • Ike Uche gets praise despite loss

    Ike Uche gets praise despite loss

    The manager of Villarreal, Marcelino, has congratulated Ikechukwu Uche and his teammates after their narrow 2-1 defeat to Barcelona on Saturday.

    The Spaniard insisted that his Villarreal side made Barcelona ‘nervous despite failing to win their third game in a row.

    “I want to congratulate my players though – we’ve done well here,” he said after the encounter.

    “I think we played better against Madrid and Atletico, but this game was different.

    “Here we played a very good match, and we made Barca nervous in the last few minutes. We’ve competed wonderfully well here.

    “Barca are a great team that have won all their home games, but I thought we were close.”

    A double from Neymar gave the Blaugrana all three points at Camp Nou, with the Brazilian securing the win with a 68th minute goal.

    Ikechukwu Uche played the last 26 minutes of the game, after coming on for Edu Ramos.

  • Ike Uche hits brace for Villarreal

    Ike Uche hits brace for Villarreal

    Nigerian international striker,Ikechukwu Uche,further made a case for his recall to the Super Eagles, as he scored twice in Villarreal’s 3-0 away victory against Levante yesterday.

    The home side suffered a setback in just the ninth minute when keeper Keylor Navas was shown a straight red card, and they also conceded a penalty in the process.

    Soriano struck from the spot to give Villarreal the lead, but for the remainder of the game, they were made to work for the points,as Levante battled against their disadvantage.

    Eventually the home side ran out of steam though and Villarreal took full advantage, with two late goals from Uche.

    After Levante had started the opening minute brightly, winning a corner, it was Villarreal who quickly took control of the game, pressing hard for an early goal.

    In the ninth minute the opportunity came as Uche went through on goal and Levante keeper Keylor Navas, brough the Nigerian down with a flailing leg. The referee pointed to the spot and immediately produced a straight red card.

    Villarreal came out strongly in the second half and with their first clear chance, Jiménez again denied them with a good save, after Trigueros had burst through one on one with the Levante keeper in the 51st minute.

    A defence splitting pass found Uche and the Nigerian forward shaped himself up perfectly, before clinically finishing past Jiménez in the 73rd minute.

    In the 88th minute,Uche struck his second of the game with a fantastic finish, punishing Levante to the maximum as their defence failed to clear.

  • Ike Uche scores goal No.1

    Ike Uche scores goal No.1

    • Villareal beat Valencia 4-1

    • Manager hails Nigerian

    Super Eagles ace, Ikechukwu Uche scored his first goal in the Spanish La Liga while Giovani dos Santos scored twice, set up another goal and missed a penalty as promoted Villarreal put local rivals Valencia to the sword in a 4-1 drubbing on Sunday afternoon.

    Only Real Madrid have avoided defeat at El Madrigal so far this season and Valencia could not follow suit as Villarreal scored twice in the opening 22 minutes through the Nigerian and Hernan Perez before Giovani made it 3-0 just after the break.

    Valencia gave themselves a glimmer of hope when Ricardo Costa pulled a goal back but Giovani’s late second wrapped up a convincing victory for the Yellow Submarine, who move to within two points of third-placed Madrid.

    Valencia claimed their fifth win in seven competitive matches on Thursday when they thrashed St Gallen 5-1 in the Europa League but the confidence gained from that result was soon punctured as Villarreal made a flying start.

    Uche headed a good chance wide in the 16th minute but Valencia were not so fortunate 60 seconds later when the Nigeria international got on the end of Giovani’s cross to nod past Vicente Guaita.

    Another header, this time from Perez, saw Villarreal double their lead five minutes later and it might have been 3-0 before the break if the Paraguay international had managed to beat Guaita again with another close-range header.

    Villarreal did not have to wait long to extend their lead after the interval, though, and it was Giovani who was at the centre of the action.

    The visitors thought they had escaped when Guaita tipped Giovani’s penalty – awarded for Jeremy Mathieu’s foul on Uche after Giovani’s header had come back off the post – behind for a corner.

    But from the flag-kick, Uche nodded down Cani’s cross and Giovani slotted home into the roof of the net.

    Valencia, without a win at El Madrigal since 2007, gained a lifeline back into the match when Costa headed home Dani Parejo’s inswinging corner in the 62nd minute, but that was a rare moment of joy in an otherwise miserable afternoon for the visitors.

    Guaita tipped Mario Gaspar’s header onto the bar as Villarreal sought a fourth goal, while Sergio Asenjo produced a similarly good save at the other end from Costa’s header as Valencia tried to build some pressure.

    The next goal was likely to be crucial, and it was Villarreal who deservedly got it with Mexico international Giovani curling home a brilliant 25-yard shot to seal the win.

    Villarreal coach, Marcelino Garcia couldn’t hide his feelings after he said he was well satisfied with Ike Uche following his performance.

    “His performance caught me by surprise. Uche plays when you want him to play. Played well because for the past three weeks, he had been the best in training.”

  • Ike Uche scores in Villarreal win

    Nigerian international, Ike Uche put up a five star performance scoring one and  assisting  Villarreal CF secure an emphatic 4-1 victory over Valencia in the Spanish League at the Camp El Madrigal on Sunday.
    The Super Eagles striker who has been overlooked in recent times by national team coach, Stephen Keshi, opened scoring for the Yellow Submarine in the 17th minutes with a right footed shot from the edge of the area after receiving a thorough ball from Giovani dos Santos.
    The Mexican dazzled his way down the left, whipped in a cross and Uche made the connection near the  post to score his second goal of the season.
    Five minutes later and giving Valencia no time to take stock of their situation, Villarreal doubled their lead in the 22nd minute through Pérez González bullet header.
    Uche then continued to terrorize the Villarreal defense and was fouled in the 18 yard box by Mathieu Jérémy leaving the center referee, Clos Gómez with no option but to point to the spot. Dos Santos however failed to score the resultant penalty as goalkeeper Guaita Panadero guessed the direction and tipped the ball out for a corner. Uche then took the corner kick and Dos Santos made up for his penalty miss to head home the third goal.
    The visitors however pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute through unmarked Ricardo Costa who was free to power his header into the back of the net.
    With victory certain, Uche was replaced in the 73rd minute by Javier Aquino but the team made sure of the points with six minutes remaining as Dos Santos grabbed his second of the match.
  • Ike Uche celebrates first goal

    Ike Uche celebrates first goal

    Nigeria international Ikechukwu Uche was amongst the goalscorers as Villarreal defeated Osasuna 3 – 0 on Saturday.

    The 29 – year – old attacker was on the score-sheet with 15 minutes of normal time remaining. The Yellow Submarine had taken the lead through Jeremy Perbet in the 23rd minute and Javier Aquino doubled the advantage 7 minutes later.

    Celebrating his first goal of the season, Ike Uche said on Twitter: ”Great game, great win.. Happy to get on the score sheet.. Hardwork continues.”

    Villarreal provisionally occupy the first position in La Liga with maximum 9 points from 3 matches, but they have played a game more than big guns Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.

  • Ike Uche listed as key to Villarreal’s survival

    Ike Uche listed as key to Villarreal’s survival

    Super Eagles striker, Ike Uche has been listed as one of the key players that will shine, and help newly promoted Villarreal survive in the Spanish Primera Liga this season.

    The Yellow Submarines were one of the better campaigners in the UEFA Champions League before they were relegated in 2012, but the team bounced back after just one season.

    They have since shipped out almost half the team with 13 players either given free transfers, or sold, as the club rebranded. But the Nigerian striker is one of those that have been tipped to use their experience, and help Villarreal survive the drop.

    “Players like Ike Uche, Cani, Bruno Soriano and Jonathan Pereira have all the experience needed for Villarreal to bounce back in La Liga but time will tell as they make the adaptation from Segunda,” was the verdict on insidespanishfootball.com.

    Uche scored 14 goals, his highest ever total in Spain, for Villarreal, as he helped the side power to promotion last season.