Lawrence Chimezie Akandu ( ''Lawrence'', born 10 December 1974 in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

) is a Nigerian-born

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who currently plays for

Hoi Fan Clube de Natação Hoi Fan (Traditional Chinese: 海帆, literally meaning sail of the sea) is a Macau football club, which plays in the town of Macau. They play in the Macau's first division, the Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol. History Ha ...

in the

Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol Liga de Elite (), previously known as Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol, is the top division of the Macau Football Association, created in 1973. The league is featuring local players and professional foreign players. Due to the lack of footbal ...

Biography

Early career

Akandu started his career and made his name as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

but has become a defender. Akandu moved to Hong Kong from the Polish club

Wisła Kraków Towarzystwo Sportowe Wisła Kraków Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Wisła Kraków (), is a Polish professional football club based in Kraków. It currently competes in the I liga, the second level of Polish football league system. It ...

in 1994. He played for Hong Kong First Division side Frankwell, Five-One-Seven,

Tung Po Tung may refer to: People * Madison Tung, a U.S. Air Force Officer, wrestler, and Rhodes Scholar * Ho-Pin Tung, a dutch race car driver of Chinese descent. * Lola Tung, an actress known for her acting debut on drama series The Summer I Turned Pr ...

. In the summer of 2002, Akandu joined Hong Kong Second Division club

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, 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, in ...

. As a physically powerful centre forward, he scored 15 goals in the 2002–03 season, helping Kitchee earn promotion to the Hong Kong First Division.

Happy Valley

In 2003–04 season, Akandu joined Happy Valley, one of the top team in Hong Kong First Division League. Despite lack of first division experience, he quickly adapted in the competition. He scored ten goals in the first-half season and led the Top Soccer table.

International career

In November 2003, Akandu acquired Hong Kong permanent resident status and played as a striker in the Hong Kong representative team. He scored on his debut for Hong Kong in the East Asian Football Championship 2003 against

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 ...

on 4 December 2003, where he scored the only goal for Hong Kong.Match highlights – Hong Kong 1:3 Korea Rep.
YouTube

Honours

With

: *

Hong Kong Second Division League Hong Kong Second Division League () is the third level of football league in Hong Kong founded in 1909. The top two teams are promoted to the Hong Kong First Division. Competition format * Each team plays the other teams twice, one home and ...

: 2002–03 With Happy Valley: *

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 ...

: 2003–04 *

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 ...

: 2003–04 With

: *

Hong Kong Junior Shield Hong Kong Junior Shield () was a football competition in Hong Kong established in 1922. All teams in the Second Division and the Third Division were included in the competition. South China was the most successful club, winning 9 titles. Hist ...

: 2005–06 With

Shatin SA Shatin Sports Association () is a sports club based in the Sha Tin District Sha Tin District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. As one of the 9 districts located in the New Territories, it covers the areas of Sha Tin, Tai Wai, Ma ...

: *

: 2007–08 *

Hong Kong Third Division League Hong Kong Third Division League is the fourth-highest division overall in the Hong Kong football league system under the organization of Hong Kong Football Association. Starting with the 2012–13 season, the two divisions of Hong Kong Third ...

: 2007–08 *

: 2008–09 *

: 2008–09

Career statistics

Club career

''As of 14 November 2009''

International career

''As of 15 January 2007''

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akandu, Lawrence 1974 births Living people Hong Kong men's footballers Hong Kong men's international footballers Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian emigrants to Hong Kong Hong Kong people of Nigerian descent People with acquired permanent residency of Hong Kong Men's association football defenders Men's association football forwards Hong Kong First Division League players Happy Valley AA players Kitchee SC players Shatin SA players Tuen Mun SA players Naturalised footballers of Hong Kong Footballers from Benin City