Mark Makama Tanko (born 1 May 1996) is a Nigerian 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 plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...

side

Los Angeles Force Los Angeles Force is an American professional soccer club based in Los Angeles, California, that plays in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA). History On August 2, 2019, the National Independent Soccer Association announced the a ...

Career

Born in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

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 ...

, Tanko began his playing career in Mexico as part of the youth squad for Club Tijuana. In 2016, Tanko was loaned to Dorados de Sinaloa of

Ascenso MX Ascenso MX was the second tier of professional football in Mexico of the Mexican football league system. The champion of the competition was promoted to Liga MX (top-flight tier). The bottom team was relegated to Liga Premier (the third tier). ...

and he made his professional debut in a Copa MX match against

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

on 27 July. In 2019, Tanko left Tijuana and signed with Serie A de México side

Pioneros de Cancún Deportivo Pioneros de Cancún F.C. is a football team based in Cancún, México that plays in the Liga Premier Serie B. History The club was founded on May 3, 1984, and in the same year joined the Tercera División de México. It won its first ...

. He played 9 matches for the club before moving to the United States. During the summer of 2019, Tanko moved to

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

club Ventura County Fusion where he played 11 matches during the season. After playing with the Fusion, Tanko signed with the

of the

. He played in the Force's West Coast Championship match against

California United Strikers FC is an American professional soccer club based in Orange County, California. History The club was founded by Bronwyn & Pete Capriotti and Michael Collins, who have had connections to the adult amateur United Premier Soccer League. California U ...

, in which he earned a yellow card in the 81st minute. Tanko also scored a penalty during the penalty shootout but couldn't prevent the club from losing 5–3 during penalties.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanko, Mark 1996 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Club Tijuana footballers Dorados de Sinaloa footballers Pioneros de Cancún footballers Ventura County Fusion players Los Angeles Force players Ascenso MX players USL League Two players National Independent Soccer Association players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Footballers from Abuja