Career
Okoronkwo started his career at Football Club Lagos before moving to the Nigerian club Julius Berger. His first club outside Nigeria was a six-month spell at First Rate (at Lloyd's)-Rayyan in Qatar, but the club could not afford to keep him beyond this period and he returned home, to Iwuanyanwu Nationale. He spent one season there before again heading abroad with Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol for two seasons.
In the summer of 2000, he signed for Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine.
After his contract expired in 2003, several Premier League and Bundesliga clubs like Schalke 04 and Borussia Mönchengladbach tried to sign him. He eventually signed a one-year deal with newly promoted Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Okoronkwo"s time in England did not prove a success though as he was unable to break into the team until the closing months of the season, by which time the club faced almost certain relegation. After they suffered the drop, Okoronkwo was released and eventually moved to play in Russia with Alania Vladikavkaz.
That season he was voted the club"s player of the season, alongside Hector Bracamonte.
Okoronkwo played 25 games for the Nigeria national team after making his debut on 13 January 2001, against Zambia. He played in the 2002 and 2004 African Cup of Nations (finishing third both times) and in the Olympics Games in 2000. He also played in every minute of Nigeria"s 2002 World Cup campaign, where they failed to progress beyond the group stage.
