Joseph Akpala

Joseph Akpala

Akpala with Karabükspor in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Joseph Eneojo Akpala [1]
Date of birth	(1986-08-24) 24 August 1986 (age 37)
Place of birth	Jos, Nigeria
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1997–2002	Pepsi Football Academy
2003–2004	Bendel United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005	Bendel Insurance	19	(13)
2006–2008	Charleroi	61	(24)
2008–2012	Club Brugge	105	(39)
2012–2014	Werder Bremen	21	(1)
2013–2014	→ Karabükspor (loan)	11	(4)
2014–2015	Karabükspor	25	(4)
2015–2018	KV Oostende	62	(12)
2018–2019	Al-Faisaly	14	(2)
2019–2020	KV Oostende	6	(1)
2021	Dinamo București	1	(0)
Total		325	(90)
International career
2005–2006	Nigeria U20	23	(10)
2008–2013	Nigeria	9	(1)
Managerial career
2023	Kortrijk (caretaker, two spells)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Joseph Eneojo Akpala (born 24 August 1986) is a Nigerian football manager and former professional footballer who played as a forward. Since 2022, Akpala has been assistant coach at Kortrijk, taking over as caretaker coach for one match in September 2023, in between the dismissal of Edward Still and the appointment of Glen De Boeck, and taking the reins again following De Boeck's sacking in November 2023.

Club career

Akpala is a product of the Pepsi Football Academy in Lagos. His first professional contract came in April 2003 with Bendel United Football Club, a Division One club in Benin City. He later joined Bendel Insurance FC, Benin City in the Premier Division of the Nigerian Professional League, in February 2005. He was to finish as joint top scorer with 13 goals in 19 games.

Subsequently, Akpala was signed by the Royal Charleroi S.C. of Belgian Jupiler Pro League in January 2006. He wore the number 27 jersey. He had a very successful campaign in 2007–08 as he topped the scorers chart with 18 goals. On 18 July 2008, Akpala joined Club Brugge signing a contract until 2013.

On 22 August 2012, Bundesliga club Werder Bremen signed Akpala after facing competition from West Ham United and Celtic. On 19 August 2013, Akpala began a week-long trial with English Championship side Reading. ^[2]

On 3 September 2013, Akpala signed for Turkish Karabükspor on a season loan. ^[3] In 2014 the deal was made permanent and he left Bremen for good.

However, only after another year, in July 2015, he returned to Belgium, signing for K.V. Oostende on a three-year-contract. ^[4]

In April 2021, he joined Romanian club Dinamo București, signing a contract until the end of the 2020-21 season. ^[5]

International career

Akpala made his debut for Nigeria against South Africa on 6 September 2008. In June 2009, he scored his first goal for Nigeria in a 1–0 away win against France in Saint-Étienne. ^[6]

He was selected for Nigeria's squad at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. ^[7]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ^{[8] [9] [10]}

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bendel Insurance	2005	Nigeria Professional Football League	19	13							19	13
Charleroi	2005–06	Belgian First Division	8	2							8	2
	2006–07		22	4							22	4
	2007–08		31	18							31	18
	Total		61	24							61	24
Club Brugge	2008–09	Belgian First Division	32	15	0	0	6 [lower-alpha 1]	1	–		38	16
	2009–10	Belgian Pro League	25	7	3	1	11 [lower-alpha 1]	3	6 [lower-alpha 2]	1	45	12
	2010–11		18	4	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 1]	0	10 [lower-alpha 2]	3	31	7
	2011–12		27	13	1	0	11 [lower-alpha 1]	7	9 [lower-alpha 2]	2	48	22
	2012–13		3	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 3]	0	–		5	0
	Total		105	39	4	1	33	11	25	6	167	57
Werder Bremen	2012–13	Bundesliga	21	1	0	0	0	0	–		21	1
Kardemir Karabükspor (loan)	2013–14	Süper Lig	11	4	3	2	0	0	–		14	6
Kardemir Karabükspor	2014–15	Süper Lig	25	4	6	1	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	–		33	5
KV Oostende	2015–16	Belgian Pro League	26	5	1	0	–		9 [lower-alpha 2]	2	36	7
	2016–17	Belgian First Division A	9	1	3	0	–		9 [lower-alpha 2]	3	21	4
	2017–18		27	6	2	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	9 [lower-alpha 2]	3	38	9
	Total		62	12	6	0	2	0	27	8	97	20
Al Faisaly	2018–19	Saudi Pro League	14	2							14	2
KV Oostende	2019–20	Belgian First Division A	6	1	1	0	–		0	0	7	1
Dinamo București	2020–21	Liga I	1	0	0	0	–		–		1	0
Career total			325	100	20	4	37	11	52	14	434	129

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearances in Belgian Pro League playoffs
3. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year ^[10]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Nigeria	2008	3	0
	2009	2	1
	2010	1	0
	2011	0	0
	2012	0	0
	2013	3	0
Total		9	1

Score and result list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Akpala goal.

International goal scored by Joseph Akpala

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2 June 2009	Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne, France	France	1–0	1–0	Friendly

Honours

KV Oostende

• Belgian Cup: runner-up 2016–17

Individual

• Belgian First Division top scorer: 2007–08 (16 goals)

References

1. "fcclop_neutral.pdf" (PDF). FIFA.com. 7 June 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
2. Watts, Charles (19 August 2013). "Reading to take a look at Nigerian international striker Akpala". getreading.co.uk. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
3. Okeleji, Oluwashina (5 September 2013). "Akpala leaves Bremen for more football in Turkey". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
4. "KV Oostende strikt Joseph Akpala" (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 6 July 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015.
5. "TRANSFER. Joseph Akpala la Dinamo București" (in Romanian). dinamo1948.club. 7 April 2021.
6. "Joseph Akpala Goal Sees Nigeria Shock France". goal.com. 2 June 2009. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009.
7. "Nigeria to take new-look squad to Confederations Cup". BBC Sport. 9 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
8. "Joseph Akpala » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
9. Joseph Akpala at Soccerway. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
10. "Akpala, Joseph". National Football Teams. Retrieved 18 April 2021.

External links

• Joseph Akpala at Soccerway
• Joseph Akpala at National-Football-Teams.com