Stefano Okaka facts for kids
Okaka at Spezia in 2012
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stefano Chuka Okaka | ||
| Date of birth | 9 August 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Castiglione del Lago, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Castiglionese | |||
| Sanfatucchio | |||
| 2001 | Centro Italia Parma | ||
| 2002–2004 | Cittadella | ||
| 2004–2005 | Roma | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2012 | Roma | 34 | (2) |
| 2007–2008 | → Modena (loan) | 33 | (7) |
| 2009–2010 | → Brescia (loan) | 17 | (2) |
| 2010 | → Fulham (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 2011 | → Bari (loan) | 10 | (2) |
| 2012 | → Parma (loan) | 14 | (3) |
| 2012–2014 | Parma | 2 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | → Spezia (loan) | 38 | (7) |
| 2014–2015 | Sampdoria | 36 | (8) |
| 2015–2016 | Anderlecht | 37 | (15) |
| 2016–2019 | Watford | 36 | (5) |
| 2019 | → Udinese (loan) | 16 | (6) |
| 2019–2021 | Udinese | 57 | (12) |
| 2021–2023 | Istanbul Basaksehir | 52 | (13) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2007–2008 | Italy U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2008 | Italy U20 | 2 | (2) |
| 2009–2010 | Italy U21 | 7 | (2) |
| 2014–2020 | Italy | 5 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 May 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:02, 15 November 2020 (UTC) |
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Stefano Chuka Okaka (born 9 August 1989) is an Italian former footballer. He played as a forward, often called a striker.
Stefano started his football journey at Roma in Italy. He played his first game for them when he was just 16 years old. During his career, he played over 125 games in Serie A, which is Italy's top football league. He also played for teams like Bari, Parma, Sampdoria, and Udinese.
He also played football in other countries. He played 47 matches in the Premier League in England for Fulham and Watford. He also spent a season playing in Belgium for Anderlecht.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting at Roma
Stefano Okaka was born in Castiglione del Lago, Italy. His parents were from Nigeria but later became Italian citizens. He joined the youth team of Roma in 2004. He was part of the team that won a national title for players under 20 in 2005. He even scored important goals in the semi-final and final games.
On 29 September 2005, when he was 16 years old, Stefano played his first game for Roma's main team. This was in a European competition called the UEFA Cup. He became the youngest player to debut in a European competition for an Italian team.
He scored his first goal for Roma on 8 December 2005, in a Coppa Italia match against Napoli. He ran with the ball from the middle of the field and scored with a strong shot. This made him the youngest goal scorer in that competition. Later that month, on 18 December, he played his first game in Serie A, Italy's top league.
Stefano scored his first Serie A goal on 17 September 2006, just after his 17th birthday. He came into the game as a substitute and helped Roma win 3–1 against Siena. Ten days later, he played his first game in the UEFA Champions League, another big European competition.
Loan Spells and New Teams
To get more experience playing in first-team matches, Okaka went to play for Modena in the Serie B league for the 2007–08 season. He scored seven goals in 33 games there. After returning to Roma, he signed a new contract. He also spent six months playing for Brescia in Serie B, where he scored two goals.
In 2009, Stefano scored his first goal for Roma in a European competition, helping them win a game in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. He scored again in the Europa League against CSKA Sofia and Fulham. His last goal for Roma was a winning goal against Siena.
On 1 February 2010, he joined Fulham in England on loan. He played his first game for them on 3 February. He scored his first goal for Fulham in an FA Cup match and his first league goal against Wigan Athletic.
In January 2011, Okaka went on loan to Bari in Italy. He scored his first goal for Bari in a 1–0 win against Lecce. He scored one more goal for Bari that season before getting injured.
Moving to Parma and Sampdoria
After not playing much for Roma, Stefano joined Parma on loan in January 2012. He scored his first goal for Parma in March.
He signed a permanent deal with Parma in August 2012. The next day, he was loaned to Spezia, a team that had just been promoted to Serie B. He played 38 games for Spezia, scoring seven goals and helping with six others. After his loan, he returned to Parma for the 2013–14 season.
On 31 January 2014, Okaka moved to Sampdoria, another team in Serie A. He had a great start, scoring five goals in 13 games during the 2013–14 season. He scored his first goal of the 2014–15 season against Torino.
Playing in Belgium and England
On 28 July 2015, Okaka joined Anderlecht, a team in Belgium. He moved there from Sampdoria.
On 29 August 2016, Okaka joined Watford in England on a five-year contract. He scored his first two goals for Watford on 10 December in a 3–2 win against Everton. In his second season, he scored one goal in a 3–3 draw with Liverpool.
Return to Italy with Udinese
On 8 January 2019, Okaka was loaned to Udinese in Italy for the rest of the Serie A season. Both Watford and Udinese were owned by the same family, the Pozzos. He scored six goals in 16 games for Udinese, helping them avoid being moved down to a lower league. This included scoring two goals in two games in May.
Okaka's move to Udinese became permanent on 2 September 2019, and he signed a three-year contract with them. He continued to play for Udinese until 2021.
Latest Club: İstanbul Başakşehir
From 2021 to 2023, Stefano Okaka played for İstanbul Başakşehir in Turkey. He played 52 games for them and scored 13 goals.
International Career
After becoming an Italian citizen in 2007, Okaka was chosen to play for the Italian Under-19 team. He also played for the Italy U-20 team in 2008, scoring two goals. In 2009, he played his first game for the Italy U-21 squad.
In April 2014, Okaka talked about the possibility of playing for Nigeria, his parents' home country. However, he was later chosen to play for the Italy senior squad by manager Antonio Conte.
He made his debut for the Italy national team on 18 November 2014, in a friendly game against Albania. He came into the game as a substitute and scored the only goal, helping Italy win 1–0.
Personal Life
Stefano Okaka has a twin sister named Stefania Okaka. She is also a professional athlete and plays volleyball. She plays for a team in France and has also played for the Italy national volleyball team.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Roma | 2005–06 | Serie A | 8 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | 1 | ||
| 2006–07 | Serie A | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | — | 11 | 1 | |||
| 2008–09 | Serie A | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | Serie A | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 3 | — | 14 | 4 | |||
| 2010–11 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 34 | 2 | 10 | 1 | — | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 61 | 6 | |||
| Modena (loan) | 2007–08 | Serie B | 33 | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 34 | 7 | |||
| Brescia (loan) | 2008–09 | Serie B | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 18 | 2 | ||
| Fulham (loan) | 2009–10 | Premier League | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 3 | |
| Bari (loan) | 2010–11 | Serie A | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 2 | |||
| Parma | 2011–12 | Serie A | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 14 | 3 | |||
| 2012–13 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 3 | |||||
| Spezia (loan) | 2012–13 | Serie B | 38 | 7 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 38!!7 | ||||
| Sampdoria | 2013–14 | Serie A | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 5 | |||
| 2014–15 | Serie A | 32 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 34 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 45 | 9 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 47 | 9 | |||||
| Anderlecht | 2015–16 | Belgian Pro League | —!!10!!2!!colspan="2"|—!!49!!17 | |||||||||||
| Watford | 2016–17 | Premier League | —!!colspan="2"|—!!20!!4 | |||||||||||
| 2017–18 | Premier League | —!!colspan="2"|—!!16!!1 | ||||||||||||
| 2018–19 | Premier League | —!!colspan="2"|—!!3!!0 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 36 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 39 | 5 | ||||
| Udinese (loan) | 2018–19 | Serie A | —!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!16!!6 | |||||||||||
| Udinese | 2019–20 | Serie A | —!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!33!!8 | |||||||||||
| 2020–21 | Serie A | —!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!23!!4 | ||||||||||||
| 2021–22 | Serie A | —!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!3!!0 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 73 | 18 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 75 | 18 | |||||
| İstanbul Başakşehir | 2021–22 | Süper Lig | —!!colspan="2"|—!!colspan="2"|—!!32!!12 | |||||||||||
| 2022–23 | Süper Lig | —!!14!!6!!colspan="2"|—!!37!!8 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 52 | 13 | 3 | 1 | — | 14 | 6 | — | 69 | 20 | ||||
| Career total | 401 | 85 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 467 | 99 | ||
International
| Italy | ||
| Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1 | 1 |
| 2015 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 5 | 1 |
- Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 18 November 2014 | Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy |  Albania |
1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
See also
In Spanish: Stefano Okaka Chuka para niños
