Onome Ebi Husband, Family, Parents, Children, Siblings, Father, Mother, Sister & Brother

Onome Ebi (born 8 May 1983) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Spanish Liga F club FC Levante Las Planas and the Nigeria women’s national team. In 2019 she became the first African footballer to play in 5 FIFA World Cup Tournaments.

Ebi is a member of the Nigerian national team. On 6 July 2019, she became the first African Footballer to play in five Fifa World Cup Tournaments, taking part in the 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015, 2019 editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Ebi was also a member of the Nigerian squad in the 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018 editions of the African Women’s Championship, winning the tournament four times 2010, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

On 16 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player Nigerian squad for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023.

Club Career

She played for Bayelsa Queens FC in the Nigerian Women’s Championship before moving to Piteå IF and Djurgårdens IF in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan. Ebi said “I enjoyed my stay in Turkey because of the good weather. Going to Sweden was a different ball game, as the cold weather made it difficult for me to play good football. The amateur nature of the Swedish league made me launch a return to Turkey for Ataşehir Belediyespor FC in the First League.”

She then played for Turkish sides Düvenciler Lisesispor and Ataşehir Belediyespor at the First League. She made her Champions League debut in August 2012 while playing for Ataşehir Belediyespor.

Onome Ebi’s interview

Onome Ebi is one of Nigeria’s most decorated female footballers. She speaks with Ademola Olonilua of Punch Newspaper on her career and other issues

What was your attraction to football?

I did not plan to become a footballer and like I always say, football has always been a part of me. I even jokingly say that football has been a part of me since I was in my mother’s womb. I would not say that I decided to play football for a particular reason. I just found myself on the football pitch playing the sport. I started when I was a very young girl, so I cannot say that there is a particular reason I decided to become a footballer.

If you did not set out to be a footballer, how did you find yourself on the football pitch?

I started by playing for the female team in my secondary school back in Ajegunle.

At what point in your life did you take it as a professional career?

During my secondary school days, we normally had this Principals Cup football competition and I played very well. I did not know that people were waiting for me to finish school before they called me to play professionally. After school, I got a call from Mr. Tony Okpara, he was a team manager to Omidiran Babes in Osogbo, that was my first club and it was in 2001. I played with them for about four years. Then Bayelsa Queens Football Club showed interest in me and I joined them. I went to Bayelsa and played with them for about three years before travelling out of the country.

What was your future ambition as a child?

After secondary school, I went straight to play football. When I was playing for my school, I found out that people were interested in me playing for them outside Lagos. Football has always been everything I wanted to do and I did not think about any other profession. After school, I went into football and I am still doing that till date. I don’t know of any other profession aside football. I was going to school like every other kid and trying to become something in life. I never knew what I would become; I was a science student. When I found myself playing football, every other career went off my mind because football was everything I ever dreamed of. I was enjoying it and since I saw that there was a future in it, I gave football my all and it is paying off.

Were your parents in support of your decision to make football a career?

Definitely, my parents were not okay with my decision like any parent would have done during that time. I went through so much difficulty to become what I am today all because of my parents. It was not that they did not want me to play football but they did not want me to leave my studies for football. But when they saw that football was something that I really love and cannot do without, they had no choice but to let me play football.

What were some of the difficulties you faced?

The most important one was my schooling. My parents wanted me to go to school because they knew that most times, footballers had to leave school for training and competitions. That was one of the biggest challenges that I had because my father really wanted me to face my studies and I tried my best to do just that but I also found a way to also play football. It was not easy but I tried and they saw that I was determined to excel both in my studies and on the pitch. That is why when I finished secondary school and a club came for me, they allowed me go with the club as they  assured them that I was in good hands.

Did your father ever flog you because of football?

Definitely, I even fell sick at a time and they had to come to the hospital to beg me and assure me that they would allow me to play football. I fell sick because they did not allow me to go for a football retreat that I was supposed to attend. I was rushed to the hospital and instead of being on admission for just a day or two, I was there for about five days. The doctors had to call them and ask what the matter was because from all the tests conducted, I was okay but my heart was heavy. My father knew I was worried because he denied me from embarking on the trip and eventually he told me to go. Those were some of the challenges I faced.

How did you feel the first time you played for Nigeria?

I cannot express how I felt the first time I played for Nigeria. On my first outing I was on the bench and I did not play but the first time I entered the pitch and played for Nigeria was in 2003.

Most female footballers are known to have been tomboys while growing up. Was that the case with you?

There was virtually no female footballer that did not grow up as a tomboy. I was called ‘man-woman’ while I was growing up because I was a chronic tomboy. After I began playing for Nigeria in 2003, I had a sports mother that told me that I had to change my look. She said that I looked more feminine than to be wearing men’s clothes. I was not comfortable in women’s clothing at first but after wearing it for some time, I dropped all my tomboy nature and started acting like a woman.

Do men get intimidated when you tell them that you are a footballer?

If you love someone, you would not care about what they have or what they do. Love is love; if you love somebody, you would go and meet the person not because of what they have but for the feelings in your heart. Definitely when a guy approaches a lady, you may not know what his intentions are but your heart would always give you a hint of what the person is coming for.

How did you feel when you won your first Nations Cup for Nigeria?

Then I felt I had got everything I needed from the female football, I never knew that my journey had just begun. I was so excited and believed I had made it but more challenges came my way career-wise. As a footballer, when you win a major competition, you celebrate for a little while and begin to train for the next big one. You may really want to win a trophy badly but once you get it, another challenge begins. When I won the Nations Cup I thought I had ‘arrived’ as a footballer, I did not know that it was just the beginning. I cannot explain the feeling but it was very beautiful.

Many people believe that when footballers are not playing, they are training in the gym. How much time do you spend in the gym?

I only go to the gym when I am with my club, I don’t go to the gym personally but I love doing aerobics. I always do aerobics at home on my own, I don’t use the gym.

How were you able to cope when you bagged your first international deal in Sweden?

It was not easy because of the cold weather but I had no choice but to cope.

How do you relax when you are not sweating it out on the football pitch?

I watch movies, go shopping and hang out with friends. I would not say I read novels but I indulge myself when I am in a good mood.

Do you still have time to cook?

If you do not cook, you would starve yourself. When we travel, there are no cooks so you have to do it yourself. I would not say I love cooking but wherever I find myself, I try to cook because when you get married, you would have to cook for your husband and family. I just have to cook.

Are you in a relationship?

I don’t want to talk about that.

Parents

Onome Ebi’s parents are Mr. and Mrs. Ebi. She comes from a Christian family and has many siblings, from a large family of ten children born to her parents.

She made a mention of her siblings in a 2014 interview when she parted ways with her formal boyfriend.

 “My parents have ten children.”

 — “Our parents don’t want women to play,” Ebi said. “Society as a whole doesn’t want women to play. People think that football is for men.

“After all these, my parent had no choice than to support my passion for football.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ebi Onome (@onosky5)

Husband and Children

Onome Ebi is at the moment not yet married. The Super Falcons captain may be in an undisclosed relationship, but we can cannot confirm this report.

In an interview with The Sun Newspaper, she said;

How do you handle admirers and why are you still single at 37?

“That sounds funny (laughs), I am the type of person who love to stick with what I want. It’s not as if am declining men but the issue is I haven’t seen the kind of person that I want. Although ladies can’t find a perfect person these days, we just get to live with the available one who suits us. But as for me, I don’t think I have come across the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

Despite being single at 37, you still look beautiful and happy, what’s the secret?

I think the secret remains rest of mind. I don’t think about what people say. All I do is to play with kids and others close one. I hear people say at my age, am still single, but I don’t care because of the peace of mind I want to sustain. I give thanks to God, even though am single at 37; I still look good and fresh than some young ones on the streets.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ebi Onome (@onosky5)

Children

Onome Ebi has no child or children birth by her. Although Ebi is a philanthropist who takes care of many kids and families at home here in Nigeria, but she is yet to have her own kids.