Kanga Akalé

Kanga Gauthier Akalé (born 7 March 1981) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Kanga Akalé

Akalé with Lens in October 2009
Personal information
Full name	Kanga Gauthier Akalé[1]
Date of birth	7 March 1981
Place of birth	Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–1998	Stella Club	17	(6)
1998–1999	Sion	25	(6)
1999–2003	FC Zürich	68	(8)
2003–2007	Auxerre	126	(20)
2007–2011	Lens	67	(5)
2007–2008	→ Marseille (loan)	19	(1)
2008–2009	→ Recreativo Huelva (loan)	26	(0)
2011–2012	Lekhwiya	2	(0)
2012	Panetolikos	9	(0)
2012–2013	Arles-Avignon	4	(0)
Total		363	(46)
National team
2003–2010	Ivory Coast	35	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Whilst at Auxerre he helped them win the Coupe de France in both 2003 and 2005, playing in both finals.[2][3] In June 2007, Akalé signed a four-year contract with RC Lens for an undisclosed transfer fee, and he was loaned to Marseille in January 2008, then Recreativo de Huelva. 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 to cover for injured striker, and countryman Bakari Koné. He made his debut in the 2011 Qatari Stars Cup on 11 November, and scored a hat-trick against Al Rayyan in a 3–1 win.[4]

On 31 January 2012, Akalé signed a six-month contract with Greek club Panetolikos F.C..[5] About three months after becoming a free agent, on 24 October 2012, Akalé joined French Ligue 2 side Arles-Avignon on a two-year contract.[6]

International career

He has 35 caps for the national team, and was called up to the 2006 World Cup.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			League Cup		Cup		Continental		Total		Ref.
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stella Club	1998	Ligue 1 (Ivory Coast)	17	6							17	6	[7]
Sion	1998–99	Nationalliga A	25	6			–				25	6	[7]
FC Zürich	1999–2000	Nationalliga A	6	0			–		2	0	8	0	[8]
	2000–01		16	2			–		1	0	17	2	[8]
	2001–02		28	1			–		0	0	28	1	[8]
	2002–03		18	5			–		7	4	25	9	[8]
	Total		68	8	0	0	0	0	10	4	78	12	–
Auxerre	2002–03	Ligue 1	6	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	10	0	[8]
	2003–04		23	4	1	0	3	0	4	0	31	4	[8]
	2004–05		31	3	6	1	3	0	11	1	51	5	[8]
	2005–06		31	4	0	0	2	0	2	0	35	4	[8]
	2006–07		35	9	1	0	2	0	6	1	44	10	[8]
	Total		126	20	11	1	10	0	24	2	171	23	–
Lens	2007–08	Ligue 1	9	0	0	0	0	0	6	3	15	3	[8]
	2009–10		28	2	5	0	2	0	0	0	35	2	[8]
	2010–11		30	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	31	3	[8]
	Total		67	5	5	0	3	0	6	3	81	8	–
Marseille (loan)	2007–08	Ligue 1	19	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	22	1	[8]
Recreativo de Huelva (loan)	2008–09	La Liga	26	0	2	1	–		0	0	28	1	[8]
Lekhwiya	2011–12	Qatar Stars League	2	0			–				2	0	[7]
Panetolikos	2011–12	Super League Greece	9	0							9	0	[8]
Arles-Avignon	2012–13	Ligue 2	4	0	2	0	0	0	–		6	0	[8][9]
Career total			363	46	22	2	14	0	40	9	439	57	–

International

Source:[7]

Appearances and goals by national team, year and competition

Ivory Coast	Year	Apps	Goals
	2002	1	0
	2003	5	0
	2004	3	0
	2005	4	1
	2006	12	2
	2007	2	0
	2008	8	0
	Total	35	3

International goals

Source:[7]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
	4 June 2006	Bondoufle, France	Slovenia	3–0	Won	Friendly
	14 June 2008	Gaborone, Botswana	Botswana	1–1	Draw	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification

Honors

Ivory Coast

• Africa Cup of Nations runner-up:2006[10]

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 – List of Players" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Retrieved 6 June 2019.
2. "PSG-Auxerre, c'était déjà il y a 12 ans". europe1.fr. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
3. "Auxerre pakt Franse beker". voetbalkrant.com. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
4. بدلا من بكارى: لخويا يضم العاجى كانجا أكالى (in Arabic)
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. Kanga Akalé pour 2 ans! AC Arles-Avignon official homepage. 24 October 2012. (in French)
7. Kanga Akalé at National-Football-Teams.com
8. "Kanga Akalé » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
9. Kanga Akalé at Soccerway
10. http://www.rsssf.com/tables/06a.html

External links

• Kanga Akalé – French league stats at LFP (also available in French)