Tesho Akindele

Tesho Akindele
Personal information
Full name Tesho Akindele
Date of birth (1992-03-31) March 31, 1992
Place of birth Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 FC Dallas
Number 13
Youth career
2010–2013 Colorado School of Mines Orediggers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2013 Real Colorado Foxes 1 (0)
2014– FC Dallas 62 (15)
National team‡
2009 Canada U17 1 (0)
2015– Canada 10 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of April 23, 2016.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of March 29, 2016

Tesho Akindele (born March 31, 1992) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer.

Career

Early career

Tesho Akindele was born in Canada to a Nigerian father and a Canadian mother and moved with his family to the US at the age of eight.[1] He grew up in Thornton, Colorado and was a standout for Northglenn High School, turning down an offer to join the Colorado Rapids academy at the age of 17 to focus on academics.[2]

Akindele played four years of college soccer at the Colorado School of Mines, where he became the school’s all-time goals leader with 76 goals scored, and was a four time All-American. He ranked second in the nation in goals scored in 2012 with 22 and was named a First Team NSCAA All-American and the 2012 RMAC Offensive Player of the Year for his efforts. Also an NSCAA First Team All-American and the RMAC Freshman of the Year in 2010, Akindele was the first player in the history of his school’s conference to score three consecutive hat tricks.[3]

Akindele also made a single appearance for USL PDL club Real Colorado Foxes in 2013.[4]

FC Dallas

On January 16, 2014, Akindele was drafted in the first round (6th overall) of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas,[5] becoming the highest-highest-drafted Division II player in MLS history. Akindele made his professional debut in a 2-3 loss against Seattle Sounders FC on April 12, 2014.[6]

After scoring seven goals in twenty-six appearances, Akindele was named MLS Rookie of the Year.

International

Akindele attended a youth training camp of the Canadian youth national team in 2009[7] and played for Canada's U-17 national team in a friendly against Costa Rica on April 2, 2009.[8] On November 5, 2014 it was reported that Akindele had turned down a call-up from Canada with a view to represent the United States instead,[9] and on January 9, 2015 he was called up to the US Senior team camp ahead of friendly matches versus Chile and Panama.[10] He did not play in either friendly due to not having an American passport at the time of the friendlies.

However, on April 14, 2015, Canada coach Benito Floro told media that Akindele was "99.9 percent" going to represent Canada instead of the United States,[11][12] and on June 2 he accepted a call up to the Canadian national team for two 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Dominica.[13] He made his debut for Canada against Dominica on June 11.[14] He scored his first goal for Canada on June 16 in the return leg against Dominica at BMO Field in a 4-0 victory.

International goals

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.[15]
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 June 16, 2015 BMO Field, Toronto, Canada  Dominica
1–0
4–0
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification

Career statistics

As of April 23, 2016
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
United States League US Open Cup Playoffs North America Total
Real Colorado Foxes 2013 USL PDL 1000——10
FC Dallas 2014 MLS 2674131—339
2015 2850041—326
2016 830000—83
Total United States 62154172007318
Career statistics63154172007418

References

  1. ↑ Marc Weber (July 26, 2014). "Tesho Akindele’s come from obscurity to No. 1 option for FC Dallas". The Province. Archived from the original on 2014-07-28.
  2. ↑ "Tesho Akindele of Colorado Mines takes unusual route to MLS". denverpost.com. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tesho Akindele - Colorado School of Mines". csmorediggers.com. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.uslsoccer.com/teams/2013/13598684.html#STATS
  5. ↑ "Tesho Akindele lands with FC Dallas after whirlwind 2014 MLS SuperDraft first round". FC Dallas. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  6. ↑ "FC Dallas vs. Seattle Sounders FC - MLS MatchCenter". MLSsoccer.com MatchCenter. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Canada Soccer". canadasoccer.com. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Canada falls 0:2 to Costa Rica". April 2, 2009. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Tesho Akindele declines Canada call-up, keeps USMNT in picture". November 2, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Klinsmann Calls 28 Players for First Training Camp of 2015". ussoccer.com. January 9, 2015.
  11. ↑ Sandor, Steven (April 14, 2015). "Akindele "99.9 per cent" committed to Canada; Floro unhappy with double standard applied to his call-ups and Klinsmann’s call-ups".
  12. ↑ Squizzato, Daniel (April 14, 2015). "Canadian national team manager Benito Floro says FC Dallas' Tesho Akindele close to representing Les Rouges".
  13. ↑ Rowaan, Dave (June 2, 2015). "Akindele inclusion highlights Canada roster for Dominica games".
  14. ↑ "Dominica 0, Canada 2 - World Cup Qualifying Match Recap". June 11, 2015.
  15. ↑ "CSA Profile". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved June 17, 2015.

External links

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