About two decades ago, Bartholomew Ogbeche made an impressive debut for the Super Eagles against Paraguay and was tipped as a future Nigeria star. It never quite happened for the then PSG man.
Hindsight is a blessing and a curse. It makes scholars of those in the present and fools of those in the past.
It ridicules the speculators of yesteryear and equips those in the now with a pedestal for dispensing scorn and ridicule.
With hindsight, we all think we knew it all along.
After starting the 2001/02 season with excellent displays for PSG the striker was on course for his long-expected Nigeria debut.
In a friendly against Paraguay on 22nd March 2002, Ogbeche started up front, with the intelligent Kanu Nwankwo.
The then PSG man terrorised the Paraguay defence, earning plaudits from pundits all over the world. He even had a bicycle kick brilliantly saved by José Chilavert.
But Ogbeche would rarely again scale such heights.
It would be the first of just 11 caps for the former Valladolid forward, who later became a journeyman.
What happened to the lip-wetting hope of Nigerian football?
Early career
From 2004 to 2013, he played for nine different clubs including Middlesbrough, Ogbeche scored just 30 goals in 171 matches.
National Team
A Nigerian international from the age of 17, Ogbeche was selected for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and appeared in two matches in a group-stage exit. The then young lad had a poor tournament. He scored two of his three goals for the national side on 29 May 2004, in a 3–0 friendly win against the Republic of Ireland held in Charlton, London.
Good years
In 2014, the forward pitched tent with Cambuur and became their hero. He contributed 24 goals in 57 appearances.
Ogbeche then dumped them for Willem II ahead of the 2016/17 campaign. He bagged 12 goals during a two-season spell.
Pilgrimage to India
On August 25, 2018, Ogbeche signed with NorthEast United. He made his debut in the Indian Super League on October 1, where he scored in a 2–2 match against Goa. Later that month, he became the first player to achieve a hat-trick in the season, accomplishing this remarkable feat in just ten minutes during an away game against Chennaiyin.
In the subsequent years, Ogbeche continued to play in the Indian top division, joining Kerala Blasters, where he became their all-time leading scorer, although he was later surpassed by Dimitrios Diamantakos in November 2023.
On January 31, 2022, after scoring two goals against NorthEast United, he reached a milestone of 49 goals, making him the all-time top scorer in the competition. Hyderabad went on to win the championship, and he was also recognized as the top scorer for that season.
