footballers Tomi and Sammy. His father, Dr John Ameobi, is a pastor in Newcastle Apostolic church, a Pentecostal church. All of the Ameobi boys were brought up in the church and have a strong faith. Ameobi is on the board of reference for CSW, an organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights. International career Nigerian-born Ameobi had a three-year spell with England's under-21 team, netting seven goals between 2000 and 2003. Ameobi is the joint eighth highest goal scorer for the under-21s. In late 2009, Ameobi declared his interest in playing for Nigeria. On 14 January 2011, he was announced in the Nigerian national squad for the first time, for a friendly against Guatemala in the United States, in February. He withdrew from the replacement game against Sierra Leone after breaking his cheekbone in a Premier League match. On 1 November 2011, it was announced that FIFA had cleared Ameobi to play for Nigeria. In October 2012, Nigeria head coach Stephen Keshi expressed his interest in Ameobi joining the squad for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations. In November 2012, Ameobi received his second call-up for the Nigeria national team against Venezuela. He made his debut on 14 November, appearing as a substitute in the 60th minute for former Newcastle teammate Obafemi Martins. In stoppage time at the end of the game, Ameobi laid on a pass for Ogenyi Onazi to make the score 3–1 to Nigeria. He scored his first international goal for Nigeria on 10 September 2013, against Burkina Faso in a friendly in Kaduna, Nigeria. In November 2013, he scored his second goal against Italy, in a friendly at Craven Cottage. On 12 May 2014, he was named in Nigeria's 30-man provisional squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and later made the final 23-man squad. During the tournament, Ameobi made a total of two substitute appearances for the Super Eagles, failing to score in either and ultimately seeing out his side's 2–0 exit to France as an unused substitute. Career statistics Club Scource: International Honours Newcastle United EFL Championship: 2009–10 UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2006 Individual 'Wor Jackie' Award: 2000–01 References External links 1981 births Living people People from Zaria Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers English footballers England under-21 international footballers Black British sportsmen English people of Nigerian descent Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Association football forwards Newcastle United F.C. players Stoke City