Anthony Nwakaeme

Anthony Nwakaeme
Personal information
Full name Anthony Nnaduzor Nwakaeme[1]
Date of birth (1989-03-21) 21 March 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Left winger
Team information
Current team
 Trabzonspor
Number 9
Youth career
2006–2009 Vejle Football Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 Universitatea Cluj 37 (8)
2010–2011 → Arieșul Turda 8 (5)
2012–2013 Petrolul Ploiești 3 (0)
2013 Universitatea Cluj 10 (2)
2013–2015 Hapoel Ra'anana 55 (13)
2015–2018 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 95 (35)
2018–2022 Trabzonspor 120 (41)
2022–2024 Al-Fayha 45 (13)
2024– Trabzonspor 11 (1)
International career‡
2017 Nigeria 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:36, 17 January 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2017

Anthony Nnaduzor "Tony" Nwakaeme (born 21 March 1989) is a Nigerian professional footballer who currently plays as a left winger for Turkish club Trabzonspor.[2]

Club career

In 2008 Tony played for Kristianstad BoIS, a lower division team. He was already then a very solid player with outstanding skills. He didn’t get signed by Kristianstad. He also stayed with his trainer at his home, who helped him when he got sick.

Arieșul Turda

Anthony Nwakaeme began his career in 2010 at Romanian club Arieșul Turda of the Second Division, on loan from Universitatea Cluj. He played eight games and scored five goals.

Universitatea Cluj

In January 2011, he returned to Universitatea Cluj and his most productive season came in 2011–12, when he appeared in 28 matches and scored seven goals.

Petrolul Ploiești

In the 2012–13 season, he spent the first half at Petrolul Ploiești, playing just three matches.

Return to Universitatea Cluj

In February 2013, he returned to Universitatea Cluj and appeared in ten matches and scored two goals.

Hapoel Ra'anana

On 13 August 2013, Nwakaeme signed for Hapoel Ra'anana. On 31 August, he scored a goal on his Israeli Premier League debut, a 1–1 draw against Hapoel Haifa.[3]

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

On 24 June 2015, Nwakaeme signed to Hapoel Be'er Sheva. On 3 October 2015, he scored his debut goal for Be'er Sheva. This goal was also the debut goal in Turner Stadium.[4]

Nwakaeme won the Israeli Premier League best player trophy in 2017.

Along with Nigerian midfielder John Ogu and Israeli strikers Ben Sahar and Elyaniv Barda, he led Hapoel Be'er Sheva to a historical series of three Israeli championship titles in a row in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Trabzonspor

In August 2018, Nwakaeme joined Turkish Süper Lig side Trabzonspor.[5]

International career

On 10 November 2017, he made his debut for Nigeria national team against Algeria in 1–1 draw counting for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.[6][7]

In April 2019, he said he deserved to make a further appearance for Nigeria.[8]

Personal life

Anthony Nwakaeme is the younger brother of professional footballer Dickson Nwakaeme.[9][10]

Career statistics

As of 17 January 2025[6][11][12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Arieșul Turda 2010–11 Liga II 8 5 0 0 – – – 8 5
Universitatea Cluj 2010–11 Liga I 9 1 0 0 – – – 9 1
2011–12 28 7 1 0 – – – 29 7
2012–13 10 2 0 0 – – – 11 2
Total 47 10 1 0 – – – 48 10
Petrolul Ploiești 2012–13 Liga I 3 0 1 0 – – – 4 0
Hapoel Ra'anana 2013–14 IPL 30 6 2 0 – – – 32 6
2014–15 25 7 2 0 3 0 – – 30 7
Total 55 13 4 0 3 0 – – 62 13
Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2015–16 IPL 34 11 4 2 6 0 2[c] 0 – 46 13
2016–17 33 14 1 0 1 2 13[d] 2 1[e] 1 49 19
2017–18 28 10 3 1 2 0 11[f] 5 1[e] 1 45 17
2018–19 0 0 0 0 0 0 4[g] 1 1[e] 0 5 1
Total 95 35 8 3 9 2 30 8 3 2 145 50
Trabzonspor 2018–19 Süper Lig 27 10 4 1 – – – 31 11
2019–20 29 11 6 2 – 8[c] 1 – 43 14
2020–21 34 7 1 0 – – 1[h] 0 36 7
2021–22 30 13 2 1 – 4[i] 1 – 36 15
2024–25 11 1 1 1 – 0 0 – 12 2
Total 131 42 14 5 – 12 2 1 0 158 49
Al-Fayha 2022–23 SPL 25 9 2 0 – – 1[j] 0 28 9
2023–24 20 4 2 0 – 3[k] 2 – 25 6
Total 45 13 4 0 – 3 2 1 0 53 15
Career total 377 117 31 7 12 2 45 12 5 2 470 140
  1. ^ Includes Romanian Cup, Israel State Cup, Turkish Cup, King Cup
  2. ^ Includes Toto Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  5. ^ a b c Appearance in Israel Super Cup
  6. ^ Six appearances and four goals in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  7. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  8. ^ Appearance in Turkish Super Cup
  9. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  10. ^ Appearance in Saudi Super Cup
  11. ^ Appearances in AFC Champions League

Honours

Hapoel Be'er Sheva

Trabzonspor

References

  1. ^ "Player profile".
  2. ^ Anthony Nwakaeme at Soccerway
  3. ^ "ליגת העל: הפועל חיפה והפועל רעננה נפרדו ב-1:1".
  4. ^ "Tony signed a four year contract in Hapoel Be'er Sheva". Pulse.ng. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  5. ^ Abayomi, Tosin. "Nigerian striker joins Onazi at Trabzonspor". pulse.ng. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "A. Nwakaeme". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  7. ^ Anthony Nwakaeme at National-Football-Teams.com
  8. ^ Okeleji, Oluwashina (7 April 2019). "Anthony Nwakaeme: 'I deserve another chance with Nigeria'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  9. ^ "De la fraţii Costea, la fraţii Nwakaeme. "U" vrea să-l transfere pe fratele nigerianului Tony" [From the Costea brothers to the Nwakaeme brothers. "U" wants to transfer the brother of Nigerian Tony] (in Romanian). Gsp.ro. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Dinastia Nwakaeme: fratele lui Tony ar putea ajunge la "U"" [Nwakaeme Dynasty: Tony's brother could come at "U"] (in Romanian). Zcj.ro. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  11. ^ Anthony Nwakaeme at RomanianSoccer.ro (in Romanian)
  12. ^ Anthony Nwakaeme at WorldFootball.net
  13. ^ "Süper Kupa Trabzonspor'un! (ÖZET) Başakşehir - Trabzonspor maç sonucu: 1-2" (in Turkish). Fanatik. 27 January 2021. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.