Background and career
John Chukwudi Utaka (born 8 January 1982) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker and is currently a youth coach at Montpellier. He is the older brother of fellow professional footballer Peter Utaka.
Utaka has played for several clubs across three continents, first for Arab Contractors, subsequently Ismaily of Egypt, and then spending a season playing for Al-Sadd of Qatar, before joining RC Lens and later Rennes in France. He has represented Nigeria at two World Cups and three Africa Cup of Nations since his debut in 2002.
During his career he has mainly been utilised as a pacy winger making him a very effective element in a team's counter-attacking style of play. He is the founder of the John Utaka Football Academy Minna, Niger state.
