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
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	FC Dallas
Number	13
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2013	Colorado School of Mines Orediggers	83	(76)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013	Real Colorado Foxes	1	(0)
2014–	FC Dallas	68	(17)
International career‡
2009	Canada U17	1	(0)
2015–	Canada	10	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 04:58, 29 May 2016 (UTC) ‡ 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. 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 (6th 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 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 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.

International goals

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.

#	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 May 28, 2016

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
United States			League		US Open Cup		Playoffs		North America		Total
Real Colorado Foxes	2013	USL PDL	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
Real Colorado Foxes Total			1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FC Dallas	2014	MLS	26	7	4	1	3	1	—		33	9
	2015		28	5	0	0	4	1	—		32	6
	2016		14	5	0	0	0	0	—		14	5
FC Dallas Total			68	17	4	1	7	2	0	0	79	20
Career statistics			69	17	4	1	7	2	0	0	80	20

External links

• MLS player profile
• Canada Soccer profile