Former Green Eagles captain,Christian Chukwu talks about his life as a footballer

Christian Chukwu is one of Nigeria’s football legends who has paid his dues when it comes to the field of soccer. He has  coached  many national teams, club sides and won a lot of laurels to his credit, yet nothing much has been heard about his  love life.

In this engaging  encounter with Hi-Groove, chairman Chukwu as he is fondly called, goes  down  memory lane to recall his childhood fantasies  and why he sticks to his football calling, his love life  amongst other issues raised by our reporter.

Growing Up For me
Growing  up was full of sweet memories . I  was born and raised in the coal city of Enugu. I had my early education at Christ  Church primary school and later  went to the National Grammar School for my post-primary education.

As a child, football was everything to me. Those of us who played football were regarded as problematic children. Then, I often got strokes of the cane as punishment for playing football and sometimes, my parents denied me my dinner because of  the strong passion I have for  football.

There were occasions when I escaped to the pitch to play football.

But despite the challenges I faced, I stuck to my football calling, which later took me to the East Central State Academical, Rangers International of Enugu and ultimately, to the Green Eagles of Nigeria. I’m still enjoying what I’m doing today for a living.

Hawking plantain to prepare my future

In those days, I used to hawk plantain for my mother, and each time, I hit the  streets, I would end up in the stadium where I joined my pals to play football. Thereafter, I would return to the streets to continue to hawk my wares.

Then, I would hide my wares somewhere in the stadium. But most times, I wasn’t  lucky because by the time, the game was over, my wares would be nowhere to be found again. Some mischievous children would  have traced where I kept away  my  wares and feasted on them.

Sometimes, I would cry helplessly because of the punishment my parents would mete out to me for daring to  return home without my wares.

They never supported my addiction to football. In fact, my parents were always in the habit of saying; ‘my son will be an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer.’ It was a thing of pride for most parents then. So, playing football as a career was absurd in those days.

Pursuing a career in football

I started  playing football at a very tender age. I played for the junior and senior teams of  the National Grammar School, Enugu, where I had my post-primary education. I started my career in football properly after I  left secondary school. Then, I was discovered by Rangers Football Club of Enugu, in the 70s.

In 1974, I was invited to the national team, then known as Green Eagles. Then, Dominic Ezeani was the captain of the national team, before he later travelled to the United States. That was how I stepped into his shoes. The late Dan Anyiam used to be the coach of the national team. I functioned as the captain of the national football team from 1974 through 1980.

It was during that period that  we won the Nations Cup in 1980. I later travelled  to Germany  and Brazil to pursue a career in coaching.

I started my coaching career in Lebanon in the mid 1990s, before being appointed coach of the Kenya national team in 1998. Later, from 2003 to 2005, I coached the national football team, leading them to reach semi-finals at the 2004 African Cup of Nations. At the moment, I’m the technical consultant of Heartland Football Club of Owerri, Imo State.

As technical consultant to Heartland Football Club

The challenges are enormous. When I was appointed as the technical consultant to Heartland Football club,  the club was almost going into relegation. Then, the Dutch coach  was not there. His coming on board did not only help  the club to bounce back but also, he helped to build a new Heartland football club that won  the Federation Cups last year.

Women and I

As a young and vibrant  football star, I had female admirers. But unfortunately, when I was growing up,  it was almost a taboo to make advances to young girls while walking in the streets. Then, we tried as much as possible to lead a decent lifestyle, avoiding anything that would make us look stupid. Sometimes, if did  anything that was  silly, your pals would not hesitate to report the matter to your parents and you know what would be the consequences.

Meeting my wife

It was love at first sight. I met my wife while I was playing football. We courted for some years  before  we finally got married  in 1981. Today, we are  blessed with four children- two boys and two girls.

Smoking and drinking

I don’t smoke, and  I’m not a drunk either.

My kind of dressing

I’m not crazy about fashion. I dress moderately, and I like to wearclothes that would make me look  presentable. Mostly, sports wears, like  track-suits, so as to look sporty.  Also,  I love  to wear local  fabrics.

Foods and Drinks

I like pounded yam and Egusi soup with assorted meats. For nutritional values, I  eat wheat with  a very well prepared soup. I also take a lot of fruits, such as oranges, mangoes, watermelon, pineapple, carrot and garbage …