 Akpoborie during his time atStuttgarter Kickers | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1968-10-20)20 October 1968 (age 56) | ||
| Place of birth | Lagos, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1987 | Julius Berger F.C. | ||
| 1987–1990 | Brooklyn College | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1992 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 53 | (9) |
| 1992–1994 | Carl Zeiss Jena | 74 | (26) |
| 1994–1995 | Stuttgarter Kickers | 32 | (37) |
| 1995 | Waldhof Mannheim | 18 | (9) |
| 1996–1997 | Hansa Rostock | 47 | (20) |
| 1997–1999 | VfB Stuttgart | 58 | (22) |
| 1999–2001 | VfL Wolfsburg | 39 | (20) |
| 2001–2002 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 4 | (0) |
| Total | 325 | (143) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992–2001 | Nigeria | 13 | (4) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Jonathan Akpoborie (born 20 October 1968) is a Nigerian former professionalfootballer who played as aforward and spent the majority of his playing career in Germany.
Akpoborie started his professional career atJulius Berger, before moving to USA. In 1990, he joined1. FC Saarbrücken of German2. Bundesliga. Akpoborie also had spells withFC Carl Zeiss Jena,Stuttgart Kickers, for whom he scored 37 goals in one season, andWaldhof Mannheim, before finally joining top-flightFC Hansa Rostock in 1995. After spending two years at Hansa, the player moved to theirBundesliga rivalsVfB Stuttgart and thenVfL Wolfsburg in 1999.[1]
Akpoborie finished his playing career atSaarbrücken in 2002.
Akpoborie was part of the Nigeria team that won the first edition of the FIFA U-16 Championship in1985, scoring in the final against the then West Germany. Two years later, he featured for theFlying Eagles at the1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile.
He attended and played forBrooklyn College.[2]
At the senior level, he was selected for the1992 and2000 Africa Cup of Nations where he won bronze and silver respectively. His first senior cap was in a 1992 Africa Cup of Nations Third-place match against Cameroon, which the Super Eagles won. He scored his first goal for the Super Eagles againstMexico at the1995 U.S. Cup on 24 June 1995. He got his second goal – a 48th-minute equalizer – in a 1–1 draw withKenya in a1998 FIFA World Cup qualification match on 12 January 1997.
Akpoborie was surprisingly dropped fromNigeria's squad for the1998 FIFA World Cup byBora Milutinović, in spite of the fact that he played in five of the six1998 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and was the joint second top scorer in the1997-98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup tournament. He was also one of the two Nigerian footballers to play in a European Cup final that year, the other beingInter Milan defenderTaribo West, who was red-carded in the1998 UEFA Cup Final, less than a month to the World Cup in France.
In 1999, Dutch managerThijs Libregts recalled him to the national side in a2000 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier againstSenegal. The game ended in a 1–1 draw, with Akpoborie scoring his third international goal. Nigeria did not play any qualifier after the game as they qualified as hosts of the 2000 AFCON after Zimbabwe – the originally designated host – failed to get a guarantee from the government.
Akpoborie featured in a number of games ahead of the2002 FIFA World Cup. In the2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – CAF first round, he scored his fourth goal in Nigeria's 4–0 win overEritrea in Lagos.
In 2001, Akpoborie made the headlines when a boat, managed by his family, was stopped inBenin after allegations that it was carrying children into slavery inGabon.[3][4] The incident led to Akpoborie's suspension from the Wolfsburg team and eventually, after a brief sojourn at Saarbrücken, to his retirement. The story of the ship, her passengers and her owner has been covered by the documentaryDas Schiff des Torjägers (The Goalgetter's Ship) by Swiss directorHeidi Specogna.[5]
Akpoborie now resides inLagos. He works as a player agent for Rogon Sports Management.[6]
 | ||
| ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
