Sebastien Ibeagha

Sebastien Uchechukwu Ibeagha (born January 21, 1992) is an Nigerian-American soccer player who currently plays for New York City FC in Major League Soccer.

Sebastien Ibeagha
Personal information
Full name Sebastien Uchechukwu Ibeagha
Date of birth (1992-01-21) January 21, 1992
Place of birth Warri, Nigeria
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 New York City FC
Number 33
Youth career
2008–2010 Houston Dynamo
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Duke Blue Devils 70 (8)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Carolina Dynamo 25 (1)
2013–2015 AC Horsens 17 (0)
2014 → FC Fredericia (loan) 16 (1)
2015 → Fram Reykjavík (loan) 19 (1)
2016 Houston Dynamo 0 (0)
2016 → Rio Grande Valley FC (loan) 6 (0)
2016 → Rayo OKC (loan) 19 (2)
2017 San Antonio FC 30 (0)
2018– New York City FC 56 (0)
National team
2010–2011 United States U20 7 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 12, 2020

Career

Youth, College, and Semi-Professional

Ibeagha joined the Houston Dynamo academy after he and his family moved to Houston, Texas from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.[1] He was named as the 2009 Dynamo Academy Player of the Year and trained with the Dynamo first team during the summer of 2009.[1]

Ibeagha played four years of college soccer at Duke University from 2010 to 2013. He made 70 appearances for the Blue Devils, scoring 8 goals and assisting on 3 others. Ibeagha was twice named first team All-ACC and was named as the 2012 ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He was named to one of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-South Region teams in all of his seasons with Duke.[2] While at Duke, Ibeagha was offered multiple first team contracts by Houston, but he declined them due to his father wanting him to finish school and Ibeagha preferring to try to make a career in Europe.[3]

While at college, Ibeagha also appeared for Premier Development League side Carolina Dynamo.[4]

AC Horsens

After college, Ibeagha forgoed a homegrown contract with the Houston Dynamo and instead signed with Danish side AC Horsens.[5] He made his AC Horsens debut on March 15, 2014 in a 5–0 victory over Vejle Boldklub in the Danish Cup.[6] Ibeagha would make his league debut for AC Horsens on March 23 in a 0–0 draw with Vejle Boldklub.[6] He started 17 out of a possible 18 games for AC Horsens in his first season with the club.

Ibeagha made 2 appearances with AC Horsens in the 2014–15 season before being sent on loan to FC Fredericia.[7] He made his Fredercia debut on August 10, 2014 in a 2–0 defeat to Akademisk Boldklub.[6] On October 5, Fredericia played Ibeagha's parrent club AC Horsens to a 3–3 draw, with Ibeagha scoring an own-goal.[8] Ibeagha scored his first goal on October 26 in a 3–1 defeat to Vejle Boldklub.[6]

Ibeagha returned to AC Horsens for the second half of the 2014–15 season, but he didn't feature with the team. He was loaned to Icelandic club Fram Reykjavik for Fram's 2015 season.[7] He made his debut for Fram on May 23, 2015 in a 0–1 loss to Knattspyrnufélag Fjarðabyggðar.[6] Ibeagha scored his first goal for Fram on August 22 in a 2–2 draw with Throttur Reykjavik.[6]

Houston Dynamo

On January 26, 2016, Ibeagha signed with his former youth club Houston Dynamo.[9] He struggled to find game time, so Ibeagha was sent to Houston's USL affiliate club Rio Grande Valley FC. He would make 6 appearances with the Torros before being loaned to NASL side Rayo OKC on July 12, 2016.[10] Ibeagha made his debut for Rayo OKC on July 23 in a 1–0 defeat to Puerto Rico FC.[6] He scored his first goal for Rayo OKC on September 10 in a 3–2 win over the Jacksonville Armada.[6] Ibeagha helped Rayo OKC qualify for the 2016 NASL Playoffs. He made zero competitive appearances in his time with Houston.

San Antonio FC

On February 3, 2017, Ibeagha signed with USL club San Antonio FC.[11] He made his SAFC debut on March 26 in a 1–0 win over Rio Grande Valley FC.[6] He was named to the USL team of the week for Week 1.[12] Ibeagha and San Antonio recorded the second longest shutout streak in USL history between April 28 to June 17 when they went 672 minutes without conceding a goal.[13] Ibeagha helped San Antonio finish second in the Western Conference by anchoring defense that led the league with 15 clean sheets and conceded a league low 24 goals in 2017. His 190 clearances were the most by any USL player for 2017. Ibeagha was named as the 2017 USL Defender of the Year and was also named to the 2017 USL All-League First Team.[13]

New York City FC

Ibeagha signed with Major League Soccer side New York City FC on February 27, 2018 after training with the team during pre-season.[14] He made his MLS debut in NYCFC's first game of the 2018 season, coming on as a sub in a 2–0 win against Sporting Kansas City.[15] Ibeagha got the start in their next game, a 2–1 win over the LA Galaxy. After only featuring as a sub for 3 of the next 6 games, Ibeagha established himself in the team, appearing in 26 league games and starting 18 of them. He helped qualify NYCFC for the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs, their third straight season qualifying for the postseason.[15]

After not appearing in the first 5 games of the 2019 season, Ibeagha started against the Montreal Impact and helped NYCFC keep a clean sheet and earn a 0–0 draw.[15] He made 23 MLS appearances on the season, 11 being starts, to help NYCFC finish first place in the Eastern Conference and finish with the second best defensive record in the conference.[16] However, he did not feature in the playoffs.[17]

Personal

Ibeagha and his family moved to America in 2001.[3] Ibeagha attended Hightower High School in Missouri City, Texas. He played varsity soccer and football in high school.[7] Ibeagha's brother, Christian Ibeagha, currently plays for the Oklahoma City Energy.[18]

Career Statistics
As of January 7, 2020[19][20]
Club Performance League Cup Continental Other Total
Club Season League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Denmark League Danish Cup UEFA Other Total
AC Horsens 2013–14 Danish 1st Division 15 0 2 0 — — 17 0
2014–15 2 0 0 0 — — 2 0
AC Horsens Total 17 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 19 0
FC Fredericia (loan) 2014–15 Danish 1st Division 16 1 0 0 — — 16 1
Iceland League Icelandic Cup UEFA Other Total
Fram Reykjavík (loan) 2015 1. deild karla 19 1 1 0 — — 20 1
United States League US Open Cup North America Playoffs Total
Houston Dynamo 2016 Major League Soccer 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
Rio Grande Valley FC (loan) 2016 United Soccer League 6 0 — — — 6 0
Rayo OKC (loan) 2016 North American Soccer League 18 2 0 0 — 1 0 19 2
San Antonio FC 2017 United Soccer League 30 0 1 0 — 2 0 33 0
New York City FC 2018 Major League Soccer 26 0 1 0 — 0 0 27 0
2019 23 0 3 0 — 0 0 26 0
NYCFC Total 49 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 53 0
Career Totals 155 4 8 0 0 0 3 0 166 4

Honors

Individual

Houston Dynamo[7]

Dynamo Academy Player of the Year: 2009

Duke Blue Devils[2]

ACC Defensive Player of the Year: 2012

First Team All-ACC: 2012, 2013

Second Team All-ACC: 2011

All-ACC Freshman Team: 2010

NSCAA All-American Third Team: 2013

NSCAA All-South Region First Team: 2012, 2013

NSCAA All-South Region Second Team: 2011

NSCAA All-South Region Third Team: 2010

San Antonio FC[13]

USL Defender of the Year: 2017

USL All-League First Team: 2017

References
  1. "Sebastien Ibeagha". Houston Dynamo. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  2. "Sebastien Ibeagha". Duke Athletics. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  3. Morris, Neil (2014-01-23). "Duke soccer star Sebastien Ibeagha on his decision to spurn Major League Soccer for Europe". INDY Week. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  4. "Sebastien Ibeagha". SoccerStats.us. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  5. "AC Horsens skriver kontrakt med Sebastien Ibeagha". AC Horsens. January 31, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  6. "USA – S. Ibeagha – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  7. "Sebastien Ibeagha". Houston Dynamo. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  8. "Horsens vs. Fredericia – 5 October 2014 – Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  9. "Houston Dynamo sign defender Sebastien Ibeagha". MLS. January 26, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  10. "Houston Dynamo loan defender Sebastien Ibeagha to Rayo OKC". Houston Dynamo. July 12, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  11. Communications, San Antonio FC (2017-02-03). "SAN ANTONIO FC SIGNS DEFENDER SEBASTIEN IBEAGHA". San Antonio FC. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  12. Communications, San Antonio FC (2017-03-28). "SAN ANTONIO FC DEFENDER SEBASTIEN IBEAGHA NAMED TO USL TEAM OF THE WEEK". San Antonio FC. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  13. Communications, San Antonio FC (2017-11-21). "SAN ANTONIO FC DEFENDER SEBASTIEN IBEAGHA NAMED USL DEFENDER OF THE YEAR". San Antonio FC. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  14. Booth, Mark (February 28, 2018). "New York City FC Signs Sebastien Ibeagha". NYCFC. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  15. "Sebastien Ibeagha". NYCFC.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  16. "Major League Soccer Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  17. "Sebastien Ibeagha 2019 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  18. "#5 Christian Ibeagha". www.energyfc.com. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  19. "S. Ibeagha". soccerway.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  20. "Sebastien Ibeagha". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
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