Kanga Gauthier Akalé (born 7 March 1981) is an Ivorian former 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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Whilst at Auxerre he helped them win the Coupe de France in both

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, playing in both finals. In June 2007, Akalé signed a four-year contract with

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

for an undisclosed transfer fee, and he was loaned to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in January 2008, then

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

. Originally a striker, he started playing as a central midfielder or left winger. He is described as a pacey player with top technical abilities. In 2011, Akalé joined Qatari club

Lekhwiya SC Al-Duhail Sports Club (), formerly Lekhwiya SC, is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team, which plays in the Qatar Stars League. The club is based in the Duhail district in the city of Doha and plays its home games at Abd ...

to cover for injured striker, and countryman

Bakari Koné Bakari Koné (born 17 September 1981) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a winger. Club career Early career Koné was born in Abidjan. Like many other Ivorian stars, he began his career at the famed youth academy at A ...

. He made his debut in the 2011 Qatari Stars Cup on 11 November, and scored a hat-trick against

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

in a 3–1 win. On 31 January 2012, Akalé signed a six-month contract with Greek club

Panetolikos F.C. Panetolikos Football Club (), or with its full name officially romanized as Panaitolikós Gymnastikós Filekpaideftikós Sýllogos (''; Pan- Aetolian Gymnastic and Educational Club''), is a Greek professional football club. It is based in Agrinio ...

About three months after becoming a free agent, on 24 October 2012, Akalé joined French

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

side Arles-Avignon on a two-year contract.

International career

He has 35

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for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, and was called up to the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

Personal life

Akalé holds both Ivorian and French nationalities. His son Aaron is a youth international for France.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the Ivory Coast's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Akalé goal.''

Honours

Ivory Coast *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

runner-up:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akale, Kanga Living people 1981 births Footballers from Abidjan Men's association football midfielders Ivorian men's footballers Ivory Coast men's international footballers Naturalized citizens of France French men's footballers Swiss Super League players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players La Liga players Qatar Stars League players Super League Greece players Stella Club d'Adjamé players FC Sion players FC Zürich players AJ Auxerre players RC Lens players Olympique de Marseille players Recreativo de Huelva players Al-Duhail SC players Panetolikos F.C. players AC Arlésien players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2006 FIFA World Cup players Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Greece 21st-century French sportsmen