Jores Okore

Jores Okore

Okore playing for Aston Villa in 2013
Personal information
Full nameTetchi Jores Charlemagne
Ulrich Okore[1]
Date of birth11 August 1992
Place of birthAbidjan, Ivory Coast
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Playing positionCentre back
Club information
Current team
Aston Villa
Number5
Youth career
2000–2007B.93
2007–2011Nordsjælland
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2011–2013Nordsjælland65(5)
2013–Aston Villa23(1)
National team‡
2011–Denmark U217(0)
2011–Denmark8(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:56, 25 April 2015 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:25, 17 November 2014 (UTC)

Tetchi Jores Charlemagne Ulrich Okore (born 11 August 1992), known as Jores Okore, is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Aston Villa in the Premier League and the Denmark national team.

Okore is considered a capable and aggressive defender, who is known for his pace and strength.[3]

Early life

Okore was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; he moved to Denmark with his family at the age of 3, where he played football from the age of 8 with B.93 in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen.[4] He moved to FC Nordsjælland in 2007, where he captained the youth side.[5]

Senior career

FC Nordsjælland

Having previously made a handful of appearances in Danish Cup games, including being part of the FCN cup winning team in 2010–11. Okore made his league debut against AC Horsens on 3 April 2011, as a substitute for Michael Parkhurst.[6] He would continue to making first team appearances in place of the injured Parkhurst, for the rest of the 2010–11 season, going on to make eleven league appearances with one assist.[3][7] Jorés Okore signed a new four-year contract with the Farum based club in June 2011,[5] and was made an official member of the senior squad for the 2011–12 Superliga season by newly appointed head coach Kasper Hjulmand.

On 18 September 2011, Okore scored his first senior goal for FC Nordsjælland, in a 2–0 league win over Brøndby. It was his only goal in that season.[8] In November 2011 he signed a new contract, extending his existing contract with FCN to December 2016.[9] He was made vice-captain of FC Nordsjælland for the 2012–2013 season

In the January transfer window 2013, Okore turned down moves to both Chelsea and Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv.

Aston Villa

On 13 June 2013, Okore signed for Aston Villa on a four-year deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £4 million.[10] FC Nordsjælland confirmed via the club's official Twitter and Facebook accounts that he was their most expensive sale ever. He made his Premier League debut on 21 August 2013 at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea, replacing injured Ciaran Clark a few minutes before half-time.[11] Okore made his first Premier League start on 24 August in Villa's home game against Liverpool. On 16 September 2013, Aston Villa announced that Okore will be sidelined for the 2013–14 season after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury in his right knee, which would require surgery, in a game against Newcastle United on 14 September.[12] On 24 November 2014, Okore made his return to the Villa first team in a 1–1 draw against Southampton at Villa Park, 14 months after his injury. He scored his first goal for Villa in a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea at Villa Park, nodding in a cross from Carles Gil.[13]

International career

On 6 September 2011, Okore made his international youth debut for the Denmark under-21 team at the age of 19, participating in a UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifier, winning 3–0 over Northern Ireland.

Having made his debut two months earlier for the U21s, on 6 November 2011 Jores Okore was called up to the Denmark national football team as a replacement for Simon Kjær, for a friendly against Sweden on 11 November 2011.[14] He made his senior debut in that match, coming on at the 62nd minute, replacing his club teammate Andreas Bjelland.[15] Okore was retained for the following international friendly against Finland, where he received his second cap and first start on 15 November 2011.

Okore was once again called up in December 2011, for Denmark's tour of Thailand in January.[16] On 24 May 2012, it was announced that Okore had been selected for Denmark's squad for Euro 2012 as well as the preceding friendly matches against Brazil and Australia.[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of 26 March 2015[18]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
FC Nordsjælland 2009–10 Danish Superliga 0010000010
2010–11 Danish Superliga 110300000140
2011–12 Danish Superliga 251302000301
2012–13 Danish Superliga 294005000344
Total 655707000795
Aston Villa 2013–14 Premier League 3010000040
2014–15 Premier League 181300000211
Total 211400000251
Career total 86611070001046

Honours

Club

References

  1. ↑ "Barclays Premier League Squad Numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "Barclays Premier League Player Profile". web page. Premier League. 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Larsen, Niels (8 April 2011). "Hvem f... er Jorés Okore?" (in Danish). Tipsbladet.dk. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Pedersen, Johnny Gudmand (15 November 2011). "FCNs Okore drømmer om Chelsea". Sporten.dk (in Danish). GoNews.dk. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Helmin, Jesper (9 June 2011). "Lang FCN contract for Okore" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Blond, Mikael (4 April 2011). "Superliga-debutant: Var lidt surrealistisk" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "FCN: Målscorere" (in Danish). FCN.dk (F.C. Nordsjælland). Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "Jores Okore". www.uefa.com. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Akbal, Ejder (4 November 2011). "Jores Okore forlænger med Nordsjælland" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "Aston Villa sign Danish defender Jores Okore". itv.com. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  11. ↑ "Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 1: match report". The Telegraph. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  12. ↑ "Jores Okore: Aston Villa defender injures cruciate ligament". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  13. ↑ "Aston Villa 1-2 Chelsea". BBC Sport. BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Blond, Mikael (6 November 2011). "19-årig FCN-komet afløser Kjær" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  15. ↑ Houlind, Søren (11 October 2011). "Sommerfuglene ramte Okore" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  16. ↑ Helmin, Jesper (6 December 2011). "FCN-profiler jubler over udtagelse" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  17. ↑ Fink, Lars (24 May 2012). "Overraskelse: Okore skal til EM" (in Danish). TV2. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
  18. ↑ "Jores Okore". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 May 2014.

External links