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SBI MLS Rookie of the Week: Tesho Akindele

Tesho Akindele

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

By TIM FONTENAULT

Tesho Akindele is quickly becoming one of the top rookies in Major League Soccer.

Akindele scored his second goal of July this past Saturday, going one-on-one against New England Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth before beating him to seal a 2-0 win for FC Dallas. The goal was the Canadian forward’s third of the season, and helped him win SBI’s MLS Rookie of the Week award.

Akindele beat out a list of candidates that included Steve Birnbaum, Harry Shipp and Bradford Jamison to claim the honor.

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Agree with SBI’s selection? What did you think of Akindele’s performance? Which rookie stood out to you most in MLS Week 19?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Whats with the big attacking players .Big attacking players are good in college but no better than a small attacking player anywhere else. The only criteria is that they be effective. A weird American bias.

    Reply
    • If you had a Messi at 5’7″ and another Messi at 6’5″, which one would be more threatening? All things being equal, size is an advantage in most sports, soccer included. Yes, I agree that Messi at 5’7″ is a more effective player than Peter Crouch. But if Crouch had Messi genius, then obviously he would be better than the real short Messi. It’s not an American thing, it’s a human / physics thing.

      Reply
      • I guess thats why NFL kick returners are 6’5″ and weigh 260?

        Americans have a hard time understanding that smaller – quicker athletes sometimes have an advantage. Its a physics thing, samller atletes are quicker because they have less mass to move, and shorter limbs. until you show me the 6’5″ kick returner, you are just wrong.

  2. He’s looking better every week…if he can keep up his form and Dallas makes a deep playoff run and can make it to the final of the USOC, he should definitely get the ROTY award.

    Reply
    • Do you know if he is cap-tied to Canada? Does he have a Green Card? I wonder if we could use him in our rotation, and see how he looks around 2017 or so.

      Reply
      • It appears that he has a single appearance for the Canada U17s but nothing senior level…It’d be cool if he wanted to play for us but with the talent coming up we won’t need him.

        Still, he’s a good, young talent and I’m really happy he’s playing in Dallas.

      • We cant have too many attacking players. Especially big attacking players. I will call my friend Jurgen and find out his thinking on this and what intel he might have on this kid.

      • He was born in Canada, but he was raised in Colorado, so I would think he may have citizenship as well. If he does have US citizenship, then he could play for Canada, US or Nigeria. If he does not have US citizenship, he can only play for Canada or Nigeria. It works that way because although you are not cap-tied to a team you play for at youth level, once you do play for a youth team, you can only switch to another team you were eligible for once you play for that youth team.

      • A guy on the Voyageurs forums said he’s leaning towards Nigeria apparently, felt he was ignored by Canada when he was younger. No information on whether he has US citizenship or not.

      • Ok. If he was ignored by Canada, I don’t think he has a realistic chance of making Nigeria’s team.

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