Position: Midfielder
Height: 6-1
Born: January 15, 1997
Birthplace: Columbus, Ohio
Previous Club: South Georgia Tormenta FC
Pronunciation: Ah-BOO-chee Oh-BIN-wah
ABUCHI OBINWA BIO
FC TULSA
2022
FC Tulsa signed Abuchi Obinwa ahead of the 2022 regular season.
2020-2021 – South Georgia Tormenta FC (USL League One)
The midfielder returned to the United States in 2020 and signed with Tormenta FC in the USL’s League One division. Abuchi made 15 appearances and 13 starts for Tormenta FC in 2020, both career highs at the time, only to increase each total to 23 appearances and 19 starts in 2021. He would also register his first professional assist in 2021 in a match on the road against Fort Lauderdale CF on October 10. Abuchi finished his time at Tormenta FC winning 58% of his duels.
2018-2019 – Lusitano FCV (Portugal)
Abuchi signed with Lusitano FCV in 2018 to play in Portugal’s third division in what would prove to be a brief two-year stint outside of the U.S. Abuchi made eight appearances for Lusitano with six starts.
2017 – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (USL Championship)
The Columbus native left Germany to sign with his hometown MLS club, the Columbus Crew. Abuchi made one appearance in an international friendly against Eintracht Frankfurt, but never made a professional appearance before being loaned to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC.
In March, Columbus loaned Abuchi to its USL Championship affiliate club Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. He would make five starts and seven total appearances for Pittsburgh in 2017.
2014-2016 – Hannover 96 (Germany)
Abuchi joined Hannover 96 in 2014, initially signing an amateur contract with the club’s U19 team. He would go on to sign his first professional contract the following season in 2015 and be named to the Hannover 96 II squad. Although he would never make an appearance for Hannover 96 II, Abuchi would total six appearances for the club’s U19 team between the 2014 and 2016 seasons.
YOUTH
As a teenager, Obinwa was a top prospect in the United States. He played with a PSG-affiliate club here in the United States, Chicago Magic PSG, and was named the 2013 U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s U15/16 Central Conference Player of the Year. Abuchi would spend time with the PSG academy and spent time with Real Madrid’s youth academy.
He has also made multiple appearances at several levels of the U.S. Youth National Teams, including appearing three times for the U-18 team in 2014 at the Lisbon International Tournament in Portugal and twice at the Stevan Vilotic-Cele Tournament in Serbia for the U-20 side in 2015.