Tega Wanogho is an unavoidable figure in American soccer. The 25 year old Nigerian won the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs. A great first for the player who dreamed of becoming the next Lebron James.
On February 12, Tega Wanogho took part in the prestigious American soccer final, the Super Bowl. Icing on the cake, he won it with the Kansas City Chiefs. Since then, the player is on cloud nine. He was far from imagining that he would one day become an American soccer player, he who had great ambitions for basketball.
"I started playing soccer just to stay in shape. A lot of people played for 10, 15 years and couldn't get to that level because it's the biggest stage in (American) soccer. It's something I can brag about one day and tell people, 'yeah, I did that. It still feels like a dream to this day. There's a lot of emotions running through it," the 25-year-old tackle told BBC Sport Africa.
"My dream was to become the next Lebron James."
Born in Delta State, Nigeria, Tega Wanogho came to the United States in 2014 to play basketball. The young Nigerian had received a scholarship to play basketball at Edgewood Academy, a private school in Montgomery, Alabama. "I am just an African kid with a big dream. I grew up in a house where our next meal wasn't planned. If you ever get the chance to leave your country and come to the United States, it's huge," he says. Committed to Edgewood Academy, his season ended prematurely due to a broken leg. "The goal was to play in the NBA and eventually become the next LeBron James, but I think God had a different plan," he recalls.
"My goal is to get another championship ring."
Tega Wanogho then set his sights on American soccer. "When I came to the U.S., I didn't know what American soccer was," he admits,I got a scholarship, played a year of soccer in high school, and the decision was easy: "OK, I'm going to go to school, I'm going to go to college. ' I went to college and I didn't let go." After five years of school and playing college soccer, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020 with the 210th pick. "Playing in the NFL is a dream come true for me. It's not for everyone to get there... I'm lucky enough to be in the NFL and playing today, so it means a lot... I never thought I was going to be on the Chiefs and then play in the Super Bowl, but you just trust the process."
He spent only one year in Philadelphia before joining the Kansas City Chiefs, with whom he won the Super Bowl. And Wanogho doesn't plan to stop there. "My goal is to get another championship ring, because I'll never be satisfied with my current situation," he says.
