Issues are trying up for the six-foot-four central defender. The Rochester, New York, native and former Nigerian Below-23 participant is off to a shiny begin with Danish Superliga aspect Viborg.
ASN Slideshow
BY
Brian Sciaretta
Posted
September 17, 2013
12:14 PM
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AFTER EARNING PROMOTION to the Danish Superliga in Could, Viborg F.F. has loved a robust begin to the brand new season and presently sits close to the highest of the desk.
Like most newly promoted golf equipment, Viborg was energetic in the summertime to usher in gamers to shore up weaknesses and put together for the elevated stage of competitors. Judging by its early returns, an important transfer the membership has made was reacquiring Jide Ogunbiyi. The American central defender has been a key part in Viborg’s latest stretch, serving to the squad to 3 wins in its final 4 Superliga video games. (Click on on the ASN slideshow, above.)
For Ogunbiyi, 26, it’s his second stint with Viborg, the membership the place he started his skilled profession. Viborg found him whereas he was on trial with Superliga membership OB Odense following his collegiate profession at Santa Clara.
“It’s been great so far this season,” Ogunbiyi advised American Soccer Now. “I moved right before the season started, the day before their first game. I finally got into the team. I knew some of the guys here because I played here before. It was easy to settle in and it’s gone well.”
Ogunbiyi’s path again to Viborg has been lengthy and winding. In 2012 it appeared as if he was leaving Viborg for Main League Soccer after agreeing to phrases with the New York Crimson Bulls. (Ogunbiyi was chosen with the 18th general choose within the 2009 MLS Superdraft.) The deal, nonetheless, fell by means of after the Crimson Bulls expressed considerations about his bodily examination. On the time Ogunbiyi had been coping with a knee harm.
Following this unsettling ordeal, Ogunbiyi returned to Denmark and signed with Vendsyssel FF by means of the top of the 2012/13 season. When Viborg earned promotion that 12 months, the crew positioned a excessive precedence on reacquiring the six-foot-four Ogunbiyi. it was a terrific alternative for the American to lastly step into the highlight of the Superliga, a league during which many U.S worldwide—Aron Johannsson, Michael Parkhurst, and Clarence Goodson—have prospered.
“After college I went to the combine and did well and got drafted higher than many expected, but my dream was always to go to Europe,” Ogunbiyi defined. “That’s from when I was young—even before I went to college. It hasn’t ever really been a goal of mine to play in MLS, but at the time [in 2012] it seemed like the best option for me. When it didn’t quite work, returning Denmark became the best option because people knew me there.”
When he signed with Viborg in July, head coach Ove Christensen knew it was an vital transfer if the membership had been going to outlive within the prime tier of Danish soccer.
“He is a player with an American attitude, and we know that he works hard in both the training and the matches,” Christensen mentioned. “We got a strong addition to an already strong backline, and in the aerial games, we got a true specialist. When this opportunity arose to sign him, we were all agreed that it would be a good idea. What has impressed me a lot: the will and motivation he had to get back to Viborg. It’s just what we need.”
On August 25, Viborg simply defeated Esbjerg 3-1 and Ogunbiyi scored the crew’s ultimate aim off of a robust header. Days later, Denmark’s TV3 named Ogunbiyi to the Superliga crew of the week.
This previous weekend, Ogunbiyi once more scored for Viborg however this aim was extra dramatic because it gave his crew a priceless 1-0 win on the highway over AGF Aarhus. The win moved the membership into fifth place within the Superliga and simply two factors out of second.
“It’s definitely something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time,” Ogunbiyi mentioned of enjoying in a prime division. “I’ve been really close in the past to moving to some pretty good leagues. To finally have it happen is exciting for me to play and get some exposure.”
“In terms of everything else it hasn’t been too much of an adjustment,” he continued. “When I was younger, I was in with Nigeria’s U-23s and that was a high level. The biggest difference is the style of play. It’s a bit more open. There is a lot of crossing. Obviously the players are smarter. Of course it’s a step up but for me it hasn’t been too much.”
As for crew expectations for Viborg this 12 months, it’s troublesome to say. The Danish Superliga is at all times one of many extra unpredictable leagues in Europe. This 12 months, conventional powers Brondby and Copenhagen are off to very gradual begins, as is 2012 Champion Nordsjaelland.
Ogunbiyi believes that Viborg can compete properly however the membership must keep away from severe accidents to key gamers because the squad isn’t very deep.
“When I came here, the goal was just to stay up,” Ogunbiyi mentioned. “I think that’s still the goal since we’re newly promoted and we don’t have the biggest squad. It’s hard to say what’s going to happen because if we get some injuries, we could be in trouble. It’s good that we’ve gotten off to a good start because it has taken some of the pressure off.”
As for his nationwide crew aspirations, Ogunbiyi admits he has thought concerning the matter just lately now that he has returned to the Superliga. He was born and raised in the US to a Jamaican mom and a Nigerian father. He grew up in suburban Philadelphia and have become concerned with the game when his father was his first coach.
Throughout his early-to-middle teenage years, he spent summers in Nigeria coaching on the prestigious Pepsi Soccer Academy, which has produced Nigerian internationals corresponding to John Mikel Obi, Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé, and Joseph Akpala. The Nigerian federation continued to remain in contact with Ogunbiyi and invited him to camps for its U-23 nationwide crew whereas he was enjoying for Santa Clara College.
Regardless of enjoying for Nigeria’s youth groups, Ogunbiyi mentioned he can be honored ought to the US nationwide crew ever resolve to ask him to attend a camp. Traditionally, the annual January camp has been a time the place Superliga gamers have been concerned as a result of nation’s lengthy winter break. Competitors will likely be tight since lots of the U.S nationwide crew’s central defenders—corresponding to Omar Gonzalez, Matt Besler, and Clarence Goodson—at the moment are primarily based in MLS.
“I’d never turn it down,” Ogunbiyi mentioned of a theoretical U.S name up. “I’d be open to play for either country. I had the chance to play with Nigeria when I was younger and I thought it was a good opportunity. I was in school at the time. I haven’t been in with them since that time and I am open to anything now.”
Brian Sciaretta is a frequent American Soccer Now contributor and a member of the ASN 100 editorial panel. Observe him on Twitter.
