| Intro | Canadian Professional Soccer Player |
| Is | Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From | Canada |
| Type | Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth | 31 March 1992, Calgary |
| Age: | 28 years |
| Star sign | Aries |
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. 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.
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.
Akindele also made a single appearance for USL PDL club Real Colorado Foxes in 2013.
FC Dallas
On January 16, 2014, Akindele was drafted in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2014 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas, 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.
After scoring 7 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 and played for Canada’s U-17 national team in a friendly against Costa Rica on April 2, 2009. 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, and on January 9, 2015 he was called up to the US Senior team camp ahead of friendly matches versus Chile and Panama. 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, and on June 2 he accepted a call up to the Canadian national team for two 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Dominica. He made his debut for Canada against Dominica on June 11. He scored his first goal for Canada on June 16 in the return leg against Dominica at BMO Field in a 4–0 victory. Akindele scored his second Canada goal in a 1–1 friendly draw in June 2016 with Azerbaijan.
International goals
As of match played June 3, 2016. Canada score listed first, score column indicates score after each Akindele goal.| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | June 16, 2015 | BMO Field, Toronto, Canada | 2 | Dominica | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | June 3, 2016 | Stadion Rohrbach, Rohrbach an der Lafnitz, Austria | 11 | Azerbaijan | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly |
Career statistics
As of November 6, 2016| Club | League | Season | League | Playoffs | Domestic Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| United States | League | Playoffs | US Open Cup | North America | Total | |||||||
| Real Colorado Foxes | USL PDL | 2013 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| FC Dallas | MLS | 2014 | 26 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 9 |
| 2015 | 28 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 6 | ||
| 2016 | 31 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 7 | ||
| Total | 85 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 106 | 22 | ||
| Career statistics | 86 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 107 | 22 | ||
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