Kabiru Akinsola Olarewaju (born 21 January 1991 in

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

), known as Akinsola, is a Nigerian

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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

On 6 January 2009, Étoile Sportive du Sahel announced the signing of 18-year-old Akinsola, who agree to a five-year deal at

Stade Olympique de Sousse The Stade Olympique de Sousse is a multi-purpose stadium in Sousse, Tunisia. It is used by the football team Étoile du Sahel, and was used for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. The stadium holds 40,000 people. It hosts within it the meetings p ...

. However, his official debut was delayed due to the fact he was appearing at the

African Youth Championship The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations also called TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsoring reason (previously known as the African Youth Championship or the African U-20 Championship) is the main international youth football competition ...

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

. Akinsola apparently had plenty of suitors vying for his signature, but decided to link up with the

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

ns, joining countryman Emeka Opara. On 31 January, however, he changed clubs again, signing a 3+2 contract with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

UD Salamanca Unión Deportiva Salamanca, S.A.D. () was a historical Spanish football team based in Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 February 1923 and nicknamed ''Los Charros'', the club played in white shirts and black ...

and appearing rarely over the course of two

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

seasons, his first competitive appearance only taking place on 9 May due to bureaucratic problems; additionally, he spent several weeks on the sidelines with a

thigh In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone ...

injury. In the summer of 2010, Akinsola stayed in Spain but dropped down to the third level, moving to

Zamora CF Zamora Club de Fútbol is a Spanish football team based in Zamora, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded in 1968 it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Ruta de la Plata'', with a c ...

. He continued competing in that tier in the following years with

Cádiz CF Cádiz Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., known simply as Cádiz, is a Spanish professional football club based in Cádiz, Andalusia. Founded in 1910, the club competes in the La Liga, holding home games at Nuevo Mirandilla, with a seating capacity of 20 ...

, FC Cartagena and CE L'Hospitalet, this being interspersed by a brief spell in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

International career

Akinsola came into prominence in 2007, when he appeared for the Nigeria under-17 team in the

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

and scored the winning goal in the final match. He represented his country at the

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was held in South Korea between 18 August and 9 September 2007. For this event, the number of teams had been expanded from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four ...

in the

Korea Republic South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, winning the competition with the Golden Eaglet.Rwanda 2009 U-20 AYC: Why Bosso Dropped Akinsola
The PM News, 9 January 2009

Honours

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akinsola, Kabiru 1991 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Yoruba sportspeople Men's association football forwards Nigeria Professional Football League players Sunshine Stars F.C. players Étoile Sportive du Sahel players Segunda División players Segunda División B players UD Salamanca players Zamora CF footballers Granada CF footballers Cádiz CF players FC Cartagena footballers CE L'Hospitalet players Mérida AD players Cypriot First Division players Doxa Katokopias FC players Liga I players FC Politehnica Iași (2010) players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Tunisia Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Sportspeople from Imo State