- Nana Attakora
-
Nana Attakora 
Personal information Full name Nana Attakora-Gyan Date of birth March 27, 1989 Place of birth North York, Ontario, Canada Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Playing position Defender Club information Current club San Jose Earthquakes Number 27 Youth career 2000–2002 York Lions 2002–2003 Brampton East 2004–2006 NTC Ontario Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 2007–2011 Toronto FC 56 (3) 2011– San Jose Earthquakes 6 (0) National team‡ 2004–2006 Canada U-17 7 (1) 2006–2009 Canada U-20 20 (1) 2010– Canada 2 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 11, 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of November 15, 2011Nana Attakora (born March 27, 1989 in North York, Ontario) is a Canadian soccer player who currently plays for San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer.
Contents
Career
Youth and college
Attakora attended Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School in Caledon, Ontario, played for the Brampton East club, and was invited to train at the National Training Centre in Ontario.
Professional
During the summer of 2007 Attakora trained with Everton of the English Premier League prior to signing for Toronto FC. He played in five MLS Reserve Division games in his debut season, but suffered from a groin injury for the last part of the season, preventing him from making his first team debut until August 9, 2008, when he played against Colorado Rapids. Attakora scored his first career goal vs. Colorado Rapids on September 12, 2009.
During his debut game, it was announced by the commentators that he had dropped the 'Gyan' from his name, and would like to be referred to as solely Nana Attakora.
Attakora went on to have a very successful campaign with Toronto FC in 2009, working his way into the starting eleven and being voted in by supporters as Toronto FC player of the month for June.[1][2] With the addition of fellow Canadian International Adrian Cann in the 2010 season the defensive partnership has become one of the strongest in the league. Nana's contract is set to end at the end of the 2011 season, it was heavily rumoured that he was looking to move to Europe with his new found success after he turned down a contract that the Canadian club had offered in November. He later assured the fans that he had no plans on leaving Toronto and that he was waiting for increased stability with the coaching staff.[3]
Attakora scored Toronto's first goal of the pre-season on February 2, 2011, in a 1-1 draw with Partizan in Antalya, Turkey.[4] Attakora earned very little playing time in the beginning of the 2011 season with Ty Harden filling his seemingly cemented spot in the back line. In mid May it was reported that the clubs management was freezing Attkora out due to his unwillingness to agree to a contract extension, he even failed to travel with the team to FC Dallas.[5] Attakora earned his first start in nearly two months against Sporting Kansas City on June 4, due to the season ending injury to Adrian Cann and Dicoy Williams being included in Jamaica's Gold Cup roster.
Attakora was traded to San Jose Earthquakes along with Alan Gordon and Jacob Peterson for Ryan Johnson on July 14, 2011[6]. Attakora made his debut for San Jose on July 23 in a 4-0 away defeat to Real Salt Lake, he only played the first 54 minutes of the game before being substituted off for Brad Ring.[7]
International
Attakora has represented Canada at U-16, U-17, U-19, U-20 and U-23 levels. In December 2009, Nana won the Canadian U-20 Players of the Year award for the second consecutive year.[8] Nana made his senior national team debut in a friendly match against Jamaica on January 31, 2010.[9] Attakora received his first call-up to the national team in over a year for the final two matches against Saint Kitts and Nevis in the opening group stage of World Cup Qualifying. After failing to play in the first game Attakora came on as a sub for Nikolas Ledgerwood on November 15, 2011 in a 4-0 victory for Canada.[10]
Honours
Toronto FC
- Canadian Championship (3): 2009, 2010, 2011
Individual
- Canadian U-20 Players of the Year: 2008, 2009
Career stats
Team Season League Domestic
LeagueDomestic
PlayoffsDomestic
Cup1Concacaf
Competition2Total Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Apps Goals Assists Toronto FC 2008 MLS 5 0 0 - - - - - - - - - 5 0 0 2009 MLS 20 2 4 - - - 4 0 0 - - - 24 2 4 2010 MLS 25 1 0 - - - 2 0 0 6 1 0 33 2 0 2011 MLS 6 0 0 - - - 0 0 0 - - - 6 0 0 San Jose Earthquakes 2011 1 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 0 0 Total 57 3 4 - - - 6 0 0 6 1 0 69 4 4 Last Update: July 23, 2011.
1) Nutrilite Canadian Championship
2) Concacaf Champions League/Cup
International Stats
Canada national team Year Apps Goals 2010 1 0 2011 1 0 Total 2 0 Statistics as of November 15, 2011
See also
References
- ^ Toronto FC youngster seizes his chance
- ^ Nana voted TFC’s Player of the Month
- ^ Attakora hopes to stay with Toronto FC
- ^ Wileman, Luke (2 February 2011). "Toronto FC vs. Partizan Belgrade". TorontoFC.ca (Toronto FC). http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2011/02/toronto-fc-v-partizan-belgrade. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
- ^ Molinaro, John (11 May 2011). "TFC freezing out Attakora over contract, says agent". CBC.ca (Canadian Broadcasting Company). http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2011/05/11/sp-nana-attakora.html. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
- ^ "Toronto FC trades Attakora, picks up Dunfield". CBC News. July 14, 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2011/07/14/sp-tfc-trade.html.
- ^ http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2011/07/recap-floodgates-open-rsl-4-0-win-over-quakes
- ^ "Attakora claims Canadian U-20 award". Canadian Soccer. http://canadasoccer.com/news/viewArtical.asp?Press_ID=3911. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ "Jamaica beats Canada 1-0 in men's soccer friendly". Canadian Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5j5yDrCRa1MsyMwW9nrX9TwkahggA. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
- ^ "Canada Finishes With Authority". Toronto FC. http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2011/11/canada-finishes-authority. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
External links
Canada squad – 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup 
San Jose Earthquakes – current squad 1 Bingham · 2 Burling · 3 Leitch · 4 Cronin · 5 Ring · 6 Opara · 7 Stephenson · 8 Wondolowski · 9 Sealy · 10 Dawkins · 11 Convey · 12 Corrales · 13 Weber · 14 Griffin · 15 Morrow · 16 Gordon · 17 Gjertsen · 18 Busch · 19 Peterson · 20 Ward · 21 Hernandez · 23 Ampaipitakwong · 24 Lenhart · 25 McLoughlin · 27 Attakora · 28 André Luiz · 30 Baca · 32 Luzunaris · 33 Beitashour ·
Head Coach: Yallop Assistant Coach: Russell Assistant Coach: Watson Assistant Coach: Ekelund Goalkeeper Coach: Batty General Manager: Doyle
Categories:- 1989 births
- Living people
- Black Canadian sportspeople
- Canadian soccer players
- Canadian men's international soccer players
- Association football defenders
- Canadian people of Ghanaian descent
- Soccer people from Ontario
- People from North York
- Toronto FC players
- San Jose Earthquakes players
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