Ameobi is established as FC Edmonton striker
U.K. player bounced around a bit early, but has reached 100-game mark here
Tomi Ameobi had never spent more than a year with a professional soccer club before arriving to play in Canada.
Four seasons later, Ameobi, 28, celebrated his 100th appearance with FC Edmonton, scoring a goal in a 2-1 loss to the Indy Eleven on Sunday.
“It’s definitely been an honour to be given the opportunity to come out here and play my football,” Ameobi said after the loss. “As you know in football, a lot of players bounce around, but FC Edmonton has given me the chance to stay here for four seasons and I’ve enjoyed it. There’s been ups and there’s been downs, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Ameobi was brought in by FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller two years after taking over the reins of the club.
A product of Newcastle, England, Ameobi bounced around Europe for the better part of seven years before finding a stable home in Edmonton. He has 25 goals in 100 games for FC Edmonton, which includes Canadian Championship encounters. Ameobi leads the team with five goals in 17 North American Soccer League games this season.
“He’s a quiet leader and he’s a very, very professional player,” Miller said. “He’s admitted that he’s underachieved with us over his time with the chances that we’ve created for him and the chances that he’s missed, but never at any point have I ever faulted him about his attitude or his wiliness to do the work.
“He’s a great professional, fantastic in that change room and does a great job of being a very calming influence. When things get a bit heated, you can always count on the big man to have a few calming words to throw in there. I think he’s a great ambassador for the club and young players to come and watch.”
Ameobi has scored more goals for Edmonton than he had with any other previous club. He has 20 goals in 88 NASL games and five in 12 Canadian Championship games. It’s been a good run, especially considering Ameobi knew little about the NASL before coming over.
“Just bits and bobs really, I know a couple of guys who had played in the league,” Ameobi said Wednesday. “For instance, Karsten (Smith) who I played with in Finland, he was telling me about his time in San Antonio,
It’s quite remarkable how high he can jump and how long he can stay in the air. We just have to get the delivery in there for him …
and he said it was a league that was definitely on the up as one of the top leagues in North America.
“I didn’t know much coming in, but I feel like I settled in pretty quickly and it’s been one hell of a roller-coaster ride.”
Ameobi has started all but two games for FC Edmonton this season and despite being a striker has rarely been substituted. The athletic six-foot-three target man is adapt at holding off defenders and is excellent in the air.
“He’s quite formidable in the air, you see some of the goals he scores in training and some of the goals he’s scored in the past for us, he’s almost like a seagull he can hang up in the air,” Miller said. “It’s quite remarkable how high he can jump and how long he can stay in the air. We just have to get the delivery in there for him and get him into that area.”
Considering the style of play in North America, Ameobi seems a perfect fit for a fast game featuring plenty of crosses into the penalty area.
“I think it took me a little bit to get adjusted to it, because there’s a lot more running here than there is in Europe,” he said.
“In Europe it’s a bit more of a tactical game, teams feel each other out. The physical side of it, I feel I had to push myself a little harder in the gym and on the training pitch, but thanks to teammates, coaches and the city in general, I had to play catch-up pretty quick.”
Ameobi’s tenure with FC Edmonton is currently the third longest behind defender Albert Watson (127) and recently returned midfielder Daryl Fordyce (110).
However, it hasn’t all be smooth sailing for Ameobi, who has gone through his share of dry spells with Edmonton. But Ameobi does not shy away from the scrutiny that comes with being an out-andout striker.
“Regardless of where you play, I think people always know that a striker’s job is to put the ball in the back of the net,” Ameobi said. “And when that’s not happening, you do feel a sense of pressure. But I think it’s a good type of pressure, because it forces you to work that much harder at perfecting your craft.”