27 Facts About Bright Dike

Chinedu "Bright" Dike was born on 2 February 1987 and is a retired footballer who played as a forward.

Bright Dike was drafted in the first round of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew.

On 7 April 2010, Bright Dike signed a one-year contract with Portland Timbers.

Bright Dike made his professional debut on 22 April 2010 in a game against AC St Louis.

Bright Dike recorded his first professional hat trick by scoring three goals in a 22 June 2010 US Open Cup match vs the Kitsap Pumas.

On 19 October 2010 Bright Dike was named as one of the first four players to be signed by the Portland Timbers ahead of their expansion into Major League Soccer in 2011, along with Steve Cronin, Ryan Pore and Eddie Johnson.

Bright Dike was loaned to USL Pro club Los Angeles Blues on 8 May 2012 and recalled to Portland on 10 July 2012.

On 8 February 2013, it was announced that Bright Dike suffered a torn left ACL in a preseason match against Seattle Sounders FC and was expected be out until at least August 2013.

Bright Dike was traded to Toronto FC in September 2013 along with a 2015 first round draft pick and allocation money in exchange for Maximiliano Urruti and an international roster spot.

Bright Dike scored the volley off of a cross by Mark Bloom.

On 9 December 2013, it was reported that Bright Dike had returned to Toronto from Celtic without an offer for the player at that time.

On 20 February 2014 Bright Dike suffered the injury while training with Toronto FC, according to Goal.

Bright Dike had previously suffered a similar injury while playing with the Portland Timbers.

On 20 February 2016, Bright Dike signed an 18-month contract with Russian Premier League side FC Amkar Perm.

Bright Dike signed for Pahang FA before the 2017 Malaysia League's transfer window closed.

Bright Dike scored on his debut against T-Team in the Malaysia Super League.

Bright Dike was released during mid season transfer window and before the FA cup final the when the club decided to replaced him with Yamil Romero.

On 11 November 2012, Bright Dike received a call up to the Nigerian national team for a friendly against Venezuela in Miami.

Bright Dike earned his second call up with the national team as part of the provisional 32-man roster in December 2012 as Nigeria prepared for friendlies against Catalonia and Cape Verde in preparation for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

In November 2013, Bright Dike was called back into the Nigerian squad as a replacement for the injured Uche Nwofor of SC Heerenveen for the second leg of Nigeria's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification playoff match against Ethiopia and a friendly against Italy.

Bright Dike dressed and was on the bench for the Ethiopia match but did not play.

Two days later, Bright Dike started in the friendly match against Italy and scored his first official goal for the Super Eagles in the 35th minute with an assist by Shola Ameobi.

Bright Dike suffered a torn Achilles during practice in February 2014 that forced him out of the running for participating in the World Cup for Nigeria under Stephen Keshi.

Bright Dike's sister Courtney is a soccer player, who played for the Nigeria women's national under-20 football team the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Canada.

Bright Dike scored the fastest goal in the History of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, after 18 seconds against Korea on 10 June 2014.

Bright Dike's brother Daryl is a soccer player, having represented the UVA Cavaliers in college before being signed in the MLS Superdraft by Orlando City SC.

Bright Dike is the cousin of Super Eagles striker Emmanuel Emenike.