Russian legionnaires continue to differ in different European championships. The current season started very well for Herman Onugha, who we remember in the RPL for his performances for Krasnodar, Tambov, Wings of the Soviets and Rubin. The striker scores in almost all of Vejle’s matches.
As a player of the Russian national team he scored a beautiful goal in France
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Onugha has been owned by the Danish club since the summer of 2021. Vejle then bought the Russian from Krasnodar for €600,000. The Danish championship, of course, is not among the best in Europe, but it does not rank worst 17th in the UEFA club ranking. A little higher are Israel and Norway, a little lower are the Czech Republic, Greece and Croatia. I mean, the Danish league is not the place where you can score “on one leg”. In the same “Vail”, for example, the current striker of “Sochi” Luka Djordjevic did not work.
Herman ended up at Veil in the winter of 2021. At first he was rented, but the Russian proved so successful that the Danes decided to use the right to buy the Krasnodar striker. In the second part of the 2020/2021 season, Onugha scored five goals.
At that time, German felt that he could grow in the Russian national team, because he also moved to the Danish national team after a successful period in Tambov. In May 2021, Onugha made a bold statement in an interview:
“I don’t choose between Russia and Nigeria. Aimed at the Russian team. A year and a half, and I’ll be there. 100% sure. It’s time, it’s time. The next season must be spent on a good note, and that’s all…
Now I have scored four in the RPL, four in Denmark. I look at the statistics of the same Zabolotny, the same Sobolev, who scored 10 and 9. Yes, even Dziuba. I can do worse. Yes, now Dzyuba is the strongest striker. He is in good condition and familiar, where he is leader and captain. They play on it. Next comes Sobolev, followed by Zabolotny. But soon Onugha will break into this trio.
Herman’s father is from Nigeria, so the striker could choose between two teams. But he dreamed of a Russian one.
It was then that some strange handovers to the RPL began in Onugha’s career. Having hardly redeemed the Russian, Veile immediately leased it to Wings of the Soviets with the right to purchase. However, German stayed in Samara for only a month and a half: on September 1, Rubin rented it with the right to purchase. The striker went to Leonid Slutsky. And I did not guess.
The 2021/2022 season, on the contrary, removed the striker from the status of a candidate for the Russian national team. For 29 matches, he scored only three goals: two in the RPL and one in the Cup for the country. “Rubin” flew out of the elite.
Although Slutsky, judging by his words, believed in Onugha.
leonid slutsky
former Rubin head coach
“Onugha is a player with, one could say, outstanding physical qualities. And if to his physical qualities he adds a correct understanding of the game and the execution of episodes, which we want and demand from him, then there can be a very, very strong player in this combination. We are working to make sure that he implements the natural data that he has with a little more efficiency.”
After Rubin’s relegation, Onugha returned to Vejle. In September 2022, he was loaned out to Bnei Sakhnin, but Herman returned to Denmark in the winter transfer window. In Israel, the striker played only eight games (five at the base), never scored and limited himself to one assist.
Somehow we began to forget about Onugha, but since April of this year, Herman again began to resemble the player we liked so much in Tambov. In the spring, the Russian helped Vejla win a group in the transitional championship for the best teams of the second division – he became the author of four goals in 10 matches. And in the new season, our legionnaire has already scored three goals in five games. The striker scores, despite the fact that he plays in a weak team by the standards of the Danish first division: Vejle has accumulated five defeats at the start of the championship.
Onugha scored his first goal this season in the first leg against Silkeborg (1:2). The Russian opened the scoring in the 53rd minute. After a pass cut through the middle, two Vejle players fell on the opposing goal, Herman took off the defender and rolled the ball into the net after his teammate’s pass.
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Then, in a home game with Midtjylland (1:2), Onugha narrowed the gap 10 minutes before the end. After a long shot and discount, the Russian came off guard, adjusted well to the ball and fired left-footed. He hits the far bottom corner.
And on August 21, in an away match with Viborg (1: 2), Onugha equalized the score in the 64th minute. Herman, during an attack on the right flank, opened in the penalty area, then rushed to the goalkeeper’s line and launched an accurate low shot with his right foot.
According to the statistics on the SofaScore website, Onugha is the best player in Vejle after five rounds in terms of the number of shots on goal (12) and shots on goal (5). In addition, our legionnaire ranks second in the team in terms of the number of riding martial arts won (11). In general, a really successful start to the season in Denmark for the 27-year-old Russian legionnaire is not too late to make the dream of the national team come true.
