{{Short description|American soccer player}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Nelson Akwari | image = | fullname = Nelson Ndukwe Akwari | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|2|4}} | birth_place = [[Houston, Texas]], [[United States]] | height = {{height|ft=6|in=0}} | position = [[Defender (association football)|Defender]] | currentclub = | clubnumber = | youthyears1 = 1998–1999 | youthclubs1 = [[IMG Academy|Bradenton Academy]] | collegeyears1 = 2000–2002 | college1 = [[UCLA Bruins men's soccer|UCLA Bruins]] | years1 = 2002 | clubs1 = [[MetroStars]] | caps1 = 7 | goals1 = 0 | years2 = 2003–2004 | clubs2 = [[Columbus Crew]] | caps2 = 30 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 2003 | clubs3 = → [[Cincinnati Riverhawks]] (loan) | caps3 = 6 | goals3 = 0 | years4 = 2005–2006 | clubs4 = [[Real Salt Lake]] | caps4 = 41 | goals4 = 0 | years5 = 2007 | clubs5 = [[Charlotte Eagles]] | caps5 = 20 | goals5 = 0 | years6 = 2008–2009 | clubs6 = [[Charleston Battery]] | caps6 = 59 | goals6 = 0 | years7 = 2010 | clubs7 = [[Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010)|Vancouver Whitecaps]] | caps7 = 23 | goals7 = 1 | years8 = 2011 | clubs8 = [[Los Angeles Blues]] | caps8 = 22 | goals8 = 0 | nationalyears1 = 1999 | nationalteam1 = [[United States men's national under-17 soccer team|United States U17]] | nationalcaps1 = 6 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | nationalyears2 = 2001 | nationalteam2 = [[United States men's national under-20 soccer team|United States U20]] | nationalcaps2 = 4 | nationalgoals2 = 0 | medaltemplates = | pcupdate = August 13, 2011 | ntupdate = April 2, 2010 }}
'''Nelson Ndukwe Akwari''' (born February 4, 1982) is an American former [[association football|soccer]] player. He began his career with the United States national team youth academy in [[Bradenton, Florida]], and played for several professional clubs in various U.S. leagues.
==Career==
===Youth and college=== Akwari attended [[Strake Jesuit College Preparatory]], a private school in [[Houston]], before attending [[United States Soccer Federation|USSF]]'s [[Bradenton Academy]], where he trained with other Under-17 [[United States men's national soccer team|national teamer]]s like [[Landon Donovan]], [[DaMarcus Beasley]], and [[Bobby Convey]].
Although he considered turning pro, Akwari instead went to [[UCLA]] to play [[College soccer in the United States|college soccer]]. He stayed at UCLA two years, starting every game as a freshman in 2000, and being named second-team All-Pac-10 as a sophomore.
He returned to UCLA after completion of his soccer career and earned Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees in engineering.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}
===Professional=== Akwari left college after his sophomore year to pursue opportunities in Europe, but when nothing came of them, he signed a [[Project-40]] contract with MLS late in the 2002 season. Akwari was put into a lottery, which the [[MetroStars]] won; Akwari appeared in seven games and was traded during the offseason to the [[Columbus Crew]]. Akwari saw little playing time in 2003, appearing in 11 games but starting only five for the Crew, while spending a lot of time on loan to [[USL First Division|A-League]]'s [[Cincinnati Riverhawks]]. In his third year in the league, Akwari began to show much more of the promise that he had as a youth national teamer - he took possession of the starting right back position midseason, and remained there for the rest of the year, ending the season with 16 starts as the Crew won the [[MLS Supporters' Shield]].
After the 2004 season, Akwari was selected tenth overall by [[Real Salt Lake]] in the [[2004 MLS Expansion Draft|Expansion Draft]], reuniting him with old coach [[John Ellinger]]. Akwari played 41 games over the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
Akwari signed for [[USL Second Division]] side [[Charlotte Eagles]] in April 2007, and scored on his debut against [[Crystal Palace Baltimore]] on April 20, 2007. He then signed for [[Charleston Battery]] in 2008, spending two seasons with the club including a run to the final of the [[2008 US Open Cup]].
Akwari signed on 26 January 2010 for the Canadian club [[Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010)|Vancouver Whitecaps]] a one-year contract.<ref>[http://www.whitecapsfc.com/archive/feature01261001.aspx 'Caps add centre back Nelson Akwari]{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He scored his first professional goal for Vancouver on April 29, 2010, in a game against the [[Portland Timbers (2001–10)|Portland Timbers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ussf.demosphere.com/stats/2010/1634160.html|title=Portland Timbers vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2:1 |publisher=U.S. Soccer Federation|date=April 29, 2010|accessdate=December 3, 2017}}</ref> On October 19, 2010, the Vancouver Whitecaps released Akwari. Akwari joined the expansion [[Los Angeles Blues]] in the [[USL Pro]] league for the 2011 season.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=4184613|title=Los Angeles Blues Ready for Historic Inaugural Match|publisher=OurSports Central|date=April 14, 2011|accessdate=December 3, 2017}}</ref>
Akwari retired following the 2011 season and settled in Charleston, where he works as a senior engineering director for [[Boeing]] and is a frequent commentator on Battery game broadcasts.
===International=== Akwari has represented the United States at the U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels, playing at the [[1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship]] in [[New Zealand]], and the [[2001 FIFA World Youth Championship]] in [[Argentina]].
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100216051908/http://www.whitecapsfc.com/men/roster/players/nelson_akwari.aspx Vancouver Whitecaps bio] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090205181247/http://charlestonbattery.com/team_roster.asp?pid=2317 Charleston Battery bio] * {{MLS player|nelson-akwari}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akwari, Nelson}} [[Category:1982 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American men's soccer players]] [[Category:Charlotte Eagles players]] [[Category:Charleston Battery players]] [[Category:Cincinnati Riverhawks players]] [[Category:Columbus Crew players]] [[Category:American expatriate men's soccer players in Canada]] [[Category:Men's association football defenders]] [[Category:Orange County SC players]] [[Category:Major League Soccer players]] [[Category:New York Red Bulls players]] [[Category:Soccer players from Houston]] [[Category:Strake Jesuit College Preparatory alumni]] [[Category:Real Salt Lake players]] [[Category:UCLA Bruins men's soccer players]] [[Category:A-League (1995–2004) players]] [[Category:USL First Division players]] [[Category:USL Championship players]] [[Category:USL Second Division players]] [[Category:Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players]] [[Category:USSF Division 2 Professional League players]] [[Category:United States men's youth international soccer players]] [[Category:United States men's under-20 international soccer players]] [[Category:United States men's under-23 international soccer players]]