Perpetua Ijeoma Nkwocha (born 3 January 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played for and captained the Nigeria women's national football team. She is the coach of Clemensnäs IF from Swedish Women's Football Division 2. She previously played for Swedish club Sunnanå SK.

Club career

She played for Swedish side Sunnanå SK in both the top division (Damallsvenskan) and the second division (Elitettan) leagues from 2007 until 2014. In June 2008, the BBC reported that Nkwocha had announced her plans to retire in two years, and that after doing so she wants to continue to be involved in football by becoming a coach. As of 2012 she was still playing in Sweden's second-tier league. Ahead of the 2015 season, 39-year-old Nkwocha left Sunnanå to join lower division (4th tier) Clemensnäs IF in a player-coach role. She spent part of the previous season coaching boys' football in Nigeria, but wanted to settle in Sweden after taking Swedish citizenship.

International career

With the Nigeria national team Nkwocha has participated in seven CAF Women's Championship editions (2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014), winning five of them (2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2014). At the 2004 African Women's Championship, she scored four goals in the final against Cameroon to help her country win the title. She also set a record by scoring nine overall goals during the tournament, and was named the best player of the tournament. Nkwocha was voted African Women's Footballer of the Year in 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2011 by Confederation of African Football (CAF). Nkwocha has also participated in four FIFA Women's World Cup (2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015), as well as the Olympic tournaments of Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and Beijing 2008

Personal life

Nkwocha is in partnership with former Turkey based Çanakkale Dardanelspor professional striker and now by Piteå IF playing Ghanaian footballer Justice Tetteh Komey.

Honours

Individual

Career statistics