Rodgers Kola (born 4 July 1989) is a

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

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 for Zanaco. He is a versatile

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 ...

who is usually deployed on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

Club career

Kola was born in

Lusaka Lusaka (; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was ab ...

. He signed for Russia's

PFC Spartak Nalchik PFC Spartak Nalchik (russian: Профессиональный футбольный клуб "Спартак Нальчик") is a Russian association football club based in Nalchik that plays in the third-tier FNL 2. They played in the Russian ...

in July 2008 but could not link up with his teammates in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

due to

visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

problems. Because of this, he returned to Zanaco in Zambia. Kola successfully scored 2 goals at the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

and caught the eye of many European Clubs. He also scored 2 goals in a practice match against Zambia National U-20 Football team and another 2 against a German side in another practice match. In 2009, he moved to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to play in Hapoel Bnei Lod who plays in the second division in

, a year later he moved to

Hapoel Ironi Rishon LeZion Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C. ( he, הפועל ראשון לציון) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Rishon LeZion, which currently plays in Liga Leumit, Israel's second football division. Home matches are hosted at the Haberfel ...

from the same division. In 2011, he started playing for the Israeli team F.C. Ashdod. Over there, he scored 7 goals in 31 games. On 8 May 2012, it was announced that Kola would start playing in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

for the team

K.A.A. Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

. In January 2014, Kola returned to Israel and signed with Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona. On January 28, he scored his first goal for the club against Hapoel Ironi Acre in the 8th round of the

Israel State Cup The Israel State Cup ( he, גביע המדינה, ''Gvia HaMedina''), is a knockout cup competition in Israeli football, run by the Israel Football Association (IFA). The State Cup was first held in 1928 as the People's Cup. Because it involve ...

. Kola scored against

Beitar Jerusalem Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( he, מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים, Moadon Kaduregel Beitar Yerushalayim), commonly known as Beitar Jerusalem () or simply as Beitar (), is an Israeli football club based in the city of Jerus ...

in the quarter finals match and in the semi-final match versus

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The c ...

and eventually won the Israeli State Cup. This was the first Israeli State Cup title Hapoel Kiryat Shmona ever won. On 25 July 2015, Kola, was loaned to the Greek club

Veria Veria ( el, Βέροια or Βέρροια), officially transliterated Veroia, historically also spelled Berea or Berœa, is a city in Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the regional unit of I ...

, for one year. Kola made his debut on 12 September 2015 in a 0–3 home defeat against PAOK where he had a few chances to scorer with headers though

Robin Olsen Robin Patrick Olsen (; born 8 January 1990) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Sweden national team. Club career Early life and career Olsen's parents are Danish and he us ...

stopped him twice.

International career

He already played 13 games in the team of the African Cup of Nations 2012-winner

, in which he scored 2 times.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Zambia's goal tally first.''

Honours

; Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona *

: 2014

References

External links

* * * 1989 births Living people Zambian footballers Zambian expatriate footballers Zambia international footballers Liga Leumit players Israeli Premier League players Super League Greece players Sportspeople from Lusaka Association football forwards Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Zambian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate footballers in Israel Zambian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Zanaco F.C. players Lamontville Golden Arrows F.C. players Hapoel Bnei Lod F.C. players Hapoel Rishon LeZion F.C. players F.C. Ashdod players K.A.A. Gent players Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona F.C. players Veria F.C. players Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C. players {{Zambia-footy-bio-stub