Shola Ameobi, is a Nigeria-born English striker who comes from a family of footballers. He is the older brother of Tomi Ameobi, a striker in the Doncaster Rovers team and Sammiusto Ameobi, who plays for the Newcastle Youth Squad. Fondly called as “Shola”,”Strolla” and “The Fenham Eusebio”, he was born on October 12, 1981 in Zaria. Shola Ameobi made his debut for the England national Under-21 football team in 2000-01 and made 5 appearances, including four as a substitute and scored two goals against Finland at Bamsley. Between 2000 and 2003 saw he played 20 games for the team scoring 7 times.
Shola Ameobi came from the youth ranks of Walker Central Youth Team in Newcastle and signed for the Newcastle United Academy on July 1, 1995. Five years later he progressed to the senior team and made his debut for it in a home game against Chelsea F.C. on September 9, 2000.
Shola Ameobi scored 6 goals in the last 12 Premiership games played by Newcastle in 2005-06 for. He became the 2nd highest goal scorer in European competitions for the club with 12 goals, after scoring twice in a tie with Lillestrøm S.K. at the 2006 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Intertoto Cup, a summer football competition for European clubs.
Shola Ameobi underwent a hip surgery in 2006-07, and though he was not expected to play until the start of the 2007-08 season, he made a quick recovery and returned towards the end of the season in the match against Reading F.C.
He was loaned out to Stoke City F.C. on March 27, 2008 until the end of the season, to help their promotion campaign. Shola Ameobi made his debut for the Potters in a draw with Sheffield Wednesday on March 29, 2008.
Shola Ameobi is often referred to on "I'm on Setanta Sports", a show on Setanta Sports, a sports broadcaster based in the Republic of Ireland.
