Joseph Eneojo Akpala (born 24 August 1986) 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

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

Akpala is a product of the Pepsi Football Academy in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. His first professional contract came in April 2003 with Bendel United Football Club, a Division One club in

Benin City Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...

. He later joined

Bendel Insurance FC Bendel Insurance Football Club, also known as Insurance of Benin Football Club or simply Bendel Insurance, is a football club based in Benin City, Nigeria. The club plays in the Nigeria Professional football league. They were originally known ...

, Benin City in the Premier Division of the Nigerian Professional League, in February 2005. He was to finish as joint top scorer with 13 goals in 19 games. Subsequently, Akpala was signed by the Royal Charleroi S.C. of Belgian

Jupiler Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

in January 2006. He wore the number 27 jersey. He had a very successful campaign in 2007–08 as he topped the scorers chart with 18 goals. On 18 July 2008, Akpala joined

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,062.

signing a contract until 2013. On 22 August 2012,

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

signed Akpala after facing competition from West Ham United and Celtic. On 19 August 2013, Akpala began a week-long trial with English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

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. On 3 September 2013, Akpala signed for Turkish Karabükspor on a season loan. In 2014 the deal was made permanent and he left Bremen for good. However, only after another year, in July 2015, he returned to Belgium, signing for

K.V. Oostende Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende () or KVO, is a Belgian football club from the city of Ostend, West Flanders in Belgium. The team was founded in 1904 as ''VG Oostende'' and has the matricule No. 31. History In 1911, an ...

on a three-year-contract. In April 2021, he joined

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n club

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinbu ...

, signing a contract until the end of the 2020-21 season.

International career

Akpala made his debut for

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 ...

against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 6 September 2008. In June 2009, he scored his first goal for Nigeria in a 1–0 away win against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

. He was selected for Nigeria's squad at the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Score and result list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Akpala goal''.

Honours

KV Oostende *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: runner-up 2016–17 Individual *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

top scorer: 2007–08 (16 goals)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Akpala, Joseph 1986 births Living people Footballers from Jos Men's association football forwards Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's international footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Pepsi Football Academy players Bendel United F.C. players Bendel Insurance F.C. players R. Charleroi S.C. players Club Brugge KV players SV Werder Bremen players Kardemir Karabükspor footballers K.V. Oostende players Al Faisaly FC players FC Dinamo București players Nigeria Professional Football League players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players Süper Lig players Saudi Professional League players Liga I players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Romania 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players