Alexander Oluwatayo Akande (; born 9 February 1989), more commonly known as Alex Akande or Alex Tayo Akande, is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who currently plays as a striker for

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

club Shanghai Jiading Huilong. Born in Nigeria, he represents Hong Kong at international level.

Club career

Advance Tai Chung and Eastern

Akande arrived in Hong Kong in 2008 and played for Tai Chung in the Hong Kong second division league. His prolific performance soon drew interest of first division side

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

. Akande joined

in January 2009 and finished the season with 6 goals.

Tai Chung and Kitchee

Akande returned to Tai Chung in season 2009-10. After scoring 3 goals in 12 matches for Tai Chung in half a season, he joined

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won championships in Hong Kong 11 times, including 6 Hong Kong ...

in mid-season following the departure of Kitchee's Spanish striking duo Albert Virgili Fort and Raul Torres. The transfer also gave Akande an opportunity to play the 2010 Lunar New Year Cup as he played for Kitchee against Pegasus Invitation team and Korean side

Pohang Steelers The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The Steelers were founded on 1 A ...

. In two 45 minutes matches, Akande scored against Pegasus Invitation in a 1-0 win and assisted his teammates in a 1-1 draw against the

2009 AFC Champions League The 2009 AFC Champions League was the 28th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 7th under the current AFC Champions League title. The final was held at the Nationa ...

winner. Despite losing the title to Pohang Steelers due to one less goal scored, Akande was named the MVP of the tournament. Akande scored 4 more goals for Kitchee in local competitions during his half-season spell .

Tai Chung

Akande once again returned to Tai Chung and played a full season for the team in season 2010-11. His 3 goals in 19 matches were not enough to save Tai Chung from relegation.

Rangers and Hong Kong Sapling

Akande's 4th season in Hong Kong began with joining Rangers. He was loaned to

Hong Kong Sapling Hong Kong Sapling Football Club () are a Hong Kong football club which does not currently compete in the Hong Kong football league system. History On 11 August 2011, Mutual withdrew from the Hong Kong First Division League due to financial probl ...

, a development team formed by the

Hong Kong Football Association The Hong Kong Football Association Limited (), often abbreviated to the HKFA, is the governing body of association football in Hong Kong. Its current chairman is Pui Kwan Kay and its Chief Executive Officer is Joaquin Tam. History The HKFA was ...

, in the mid-season after a slow start at

Biu Chun Rangers Hong Kong Rangers Football Club (), often abbreviated to Rangers, currently known as Biu Chun Rangers due to sponsorship reasons, is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. They have won the Hong Ko ...

. Akande found his scoring touch soon after joining

, where he scored 9 goals in 12 matches. However the Hong Kong F.A. decided not to continue running

after the team failed to avoid relegation. As a result,

were disbanded after the season.

Tai Po

Akande joined another Hong Kong First Division club

Tai Po Tai Po is an area in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It refers to the vicinity of the traditional market towns in the area presently known as Tai Po Old Market or Tai Po Kau Hui () (the original "Tai Po Market") on the north of Lam Tsue ...

in season 2012-13, in which he played one of his best seasons in his career. He scored 5 goals including a hat-trick against

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...

in the quarter-final for the 2012-13 Senior Shield that contributed the team's first ever title-triumph in the tournament. He finished the season with a tally of 19 goals in all competitions. His performance also earned him a place in the Hong Kong League XI for the 2013 Lunar New Year Cup where he played against

Busan I'Park Busan IPark ( ko, 부산 아이파크) is a South Korean professional football club based in Busan that competes in K League 2, the second tier of the South Korean football pyramid. Its current home ground is Busan Gudeok Stadium. The club was o ...

from Korea and

Muangthong United Muangthong United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลเมืองทอง ยูไนเต็ด) is a Thai professional football club based in Muang Thong Thani, Nonthaburi province. The club plays in the Thai League ...

from Thailand in this annual International tournament. However, despite his prolific performance up front, the team's vulnerable defense cost them the place in the top-tier league. Tai Po were involved in a relegation battle-turmoil in which totally 6 teams were fighting to avoid relegation on the final day of the league. He opened the score for Tai Po in a huge battle against

Yokohama FC Hong Kong Metro Gallery Football Club () is a Hong Kong football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong First Division. History The team began as Fourway Athletics (), it joined Hong Kong First Division in 2008–09 season as a competition member ...

, another team in this turmoil. Yet Tai Po conceded a heart-breaking final-second goal which cancelled their lead and sent them to relegation dramatically.

Second spell at Kitchee

Following the relegation of Tai Po, Akande rejoined Kitchee. The club began the season with an International exhibition match with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He had the chance to play against the defending

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

champions, and scored a brilliant goal in the 2–5 defeat as he turned Man United's defender Alex Buttner inside out before firing home. Akande also had his first opportunity in continental competition as he was chosen as one of the four foreign players for the 2013 AFC Cup quarter-final match against Al-Faisaly from Jordan. Kitchee lost the 1st leg at home in a 1–2 defeat to the Jordanian side with Akande once equalized the score in the early 2nd half.

were eliminated from the competition with a same scoreline in the 2nd leg. The season ended well for both Kitchee and Akande, as Kitchee had an invincible season as the league champions with 16 points above the runners-up

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

, while Akande added 10 more goals to his tally in all local competitions. Kitchee began their new season with an international exhibition match against PSG at Hong Kong Stadium on 2014 July 29. Akande once again found the back of the net against a European giant in this 2–6 defeat with

Zlatan Ibrahimovic Zlatan ( sr-Cyrl, Златан) is a male given name of Slavic origin meaning ''Golden''. The name is common amongst all South Slavic countries, namely in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia and Serbia. The name is found i ...

scored a hat-trick. The same season Kitchee appointed former Spanish International and Atletico Madrid goalkeeper

José Francisco Molina José Francisco Molina Jiménez (born 8 August 1970) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Eleven years of his extensive professional career were spent at Atlético Madrid and Deportivo de La Coruña, where he won a total ...

as their head coach. Aiming for higher success in the

2014 AFC Cup The 2014 AFC Cup was the 11th edition of the AFC Cup, a association football, football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia. Kuwait SC, Al-Kuwait were the two-time defendin ...

and the 2015 AFC Champions League Playoffs. However Akande picked up an injury in a training session in early season which forced him to miss the rest of the season. After a successful surgery he went to the United States for his rehab with specialized physical therapy. The rehab was a success and he was ready to return for the next season.

Dalian Yifang

Following the bankruptcy of Yanbian Fude, Akande moved to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club Dalian Yifang on 28 February 2019. He made his debut three days later in a 1–1 draw against

Henan Jianye Henan Songshan Longmen Football Club (), previously known as Henan Jianye Football Club (), is a professional football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team ...

Third spell at Kitchee

Having made only a few appearances for Dalian, Akande was released by the club. On 31 March 2021, Kitchee confirmed that Akande has rejoined the club.

Shanghai Jiading Huilong

On 1 July 2023, Akande joined

club Shanghai Jiading Huilong.

International career

Akande was born in Nigeria, but after living for more than seven years in Hong Kong, he obtained his Hong Kong residency and became eligible to play for the Hong Kong national team in October 2015. He was immediately called up by the Hong Kong national team for the friendly match against Myanmar on 7 November 2015 at Mongkok Stadium. Akande made his international debut in this match and scored his first international goal for Hong Kong in the 5-0 victory. He soon made his international debut for Hong Kong in a friendly match against

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

on 7 November 2015. He also scored on his debut in this 5-0 win. Akande started in the 2018 World Cup AFC qualification second round match against Maldives on 12 November 2015 in which Hong Kong defeated the home side in a narrow 1-0 win. He then played against China and Qatar in the same competition. Hong Kong finished the group stage as the 2nd runners-up and secured a direct entry to the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying third round. Since making his International debut and the managerial change of

in mid-season, Akande has recovered his scoring form before the injury by scoring 10 goals in 18 matches including 2 goals in the League Cup final victory which saw

lifted this trophy for the historical fifth times. On 9 November 2016, Akande scored four goals to lead Hong Kong to a 4-2 victory over

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

in the 2017 EAFF East Asian Cup Second Round. Akande played all the remaining three 2018 World Cup AFC qualification second round matches of the Hong Kong national team against Maldives, China and Qatar. Hong Kong completed the group stage as the 2nd runners-up and secured a direct entry to the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying third round.

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate as of match played 31 December 2020''.

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Hong Kong's goal tally first.''

Honour

Tai Po *

Hong Kong Senior Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the football knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the fourth oldest football tournament in Asia. Traditionally, only the teams in the Hong Kong Pr ...

: 2012–13 Kitchee *

Hong Kong Premier League The Hong Kong Premier League () is a Hong Kong professional football league organised by the Hong Kong Football Association. It is currently sponsored by BOC Life and officially known as BOC Life Hong Kong Premier League (). The inaugural seaso ...

: 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* Hong Kong First Division: 2013–14 *

: 2016–17,

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. Th ...

: 2016–17, 2017–18,

Hong Kong Sapling Cup Hong Kong Football Association Sapling Cup (), more commonly known as Sapling Cup (), is a Hong Kong domestic football competition contested by all the teams in the Hong Kong Premier League. The objective of the Cup is to provide more playing opp ...

: 2017–18, 2019–20 *

Hong Kong League Cup Hong Kong Football Association League Cup () is an annual football competition contested by clubs in the top-tier Hong Kong domestic football league (currently Hong Kong Premier League). The cup was relaunched for the 2014–15 season after being ...

: 2015–16 *

Hong Kong Community Cup Hong Kong Community Cup (), formerly known as Hong Kong Community Shield (), is the football super cup competition in Hong Kong played between the winners of the Hong Kong Premier League (previously the Hong Kong First Division League) and the ...

: 2016–17

References

External links

*
Alexander Oluwatayo Akande
at HKFA * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akande, Alexander Oluwatayo 1989 births Living people Footballers from Lagos Men's association football forwards Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in China Naturalised footballers of Hong Kong Hong Kong men's footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian emigrants to Hong Kong Yoruba sportspeople Hong Kong First Division League players Hong Kong Premier League players China League One players Chinese Super League players Hong Kong Rangers FC players Resources Capital FC players Hong Kong Sapling players Eastern Sports Club footballers Kitchee SC players Yanbian Funde F.C. players Dalian Professional F.C. players Shanghai Jiading Huilong F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Hong Kong expatriate sportspeople in China Hong Kong expatriate men's footballers Hong Kong League XI representative players Expatriate men's footballers in China Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong