Winning UCL trophy ascoach, my goal – Utaka

FORMER Super Eagles winger, John Chukwudi Utaka has set his sights on becoming the first African coach to win the UEFA Champions League.

  Utaka’s journey to coaching has been a remarkable one, after retiring from playing football at the end of the 2017/2018 season.

  The ex-Portsmouth ace started his academy and was later hired as an assistant coach in the Montpellier U19s in 2020. In 2022,  Utaka obtained his UEFA A license and is now working towards achieving his UEFA Pro badge.

  Utaka admits he has his sights set on coaching a team in Europe, and he is determined to make history by becoming the first African coach to win the UEFA Champions League.

  “If the opportunity comes to coach a team in Europe, I will embrace it,” Utaka told DW.

  “My dream is to win the trophies that I didn’t win as a player. I want to win them as a coach. We’ve never had an African coach win the Champions League. That is a goal for me.”