Eric Akoto

Eric Akoto (born 20 July 1980) is a naturalized Togolese former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in Ghana, he represented the Togo national team at international level.

Eric Akoto
Akoto with Kapfenberger SV in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth (1980-06-20) 20 June 1980
Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Centre Back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998 Liberty Professionals
1998–2002 Grazer AK 54 (2)
2002–2004 Austria Wien 40 (4)
2004–2005 Rot-Weiß Erfurt 4 (0)
2005–2006 Admira Wacker 17 (1)
2006–2007 Grazer AK 25 (0)
2007–2008 Interblock 30 (1)
2008–2009 Kapfenberger SV 15 (0)
2009 Maccabi Ahi Nazareth 9 (0)
2009–2010 OFI Crete 3 (0)
2010–2011 North Queensland Fury 15 (0)
2011–2012 Floriana FC 15 (1)
2012–2013 Austria Klagenfurt 18 (3)
National team
2000–2009 Togo 56 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Akoto was born in Accra, Ghana. He started his career in Ghana, at Liberty Professionals FC in 1998 before moving to Austria later that year to play for Grazer AK. In 2002, he moved to Austria Vienna, before moving to Germany in 2004 to play for FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt. On 1 June 2005, he returned to Austria to play for VfB Admira Wacker Mödling.[1] In 2006, he once again moved to Grazer AK.[1] In July 2007 he moved to Slovenia signing for Interblock Ljubljana.[2]

In the January 2008 transfer window, Akoto went on trial with Football League Championship club Blackpool in England.[3] He moved in July 2008 from Slovenian PrvaLiga Telekom Slovenije club, Interblock Ljubljana to Austrian Bundesliga club Kapfenberger SV.[4] In 2009, he moved to Maccabi Ahi Nazareth and later to OFI Crete.

In July 2010, he signed with Australian A-League club North Queensland Fury FC where he played as a central defender. In the Fury's round 3 match versus Melbourne Victory, Akoto was red carded after an incident involving Kevin Muscat, where the Victory defender would not let Akoto pick up his mouthguard and resulted in Akoto pushing Muscat to the ground.[5] Despite the incident being regarded as controversial by many media commentators, North Queensland opted against contesting the mandatory one-week suspension.[6]

In December 2011, he signed for Floriana FC.

International career

Despite being born in the Ghanaian capital of Accra he played for neighbouring Togo.

He was part of the Togo squad in the 2006 World Cup finals where Togo were knocked out of the competition in the group stages.[1] Akoto was on the bus carrying the Togo team, which was attacked by gunfire on 8 January 2010.[7]

References
  1. "Akoto joins Grazer AK". MTN Group. 6 July 2006. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  2. "Okrepitev iz Toga" (in Slovenian). Interblock Ljubljana. 9 July 2007. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  3. "Grayson casts net worldwide for signings". Blackpool Gazette. 8 January 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
  4. "SV Kapfenberg holt Eric Akoto ins Boot: Togolese war bereits bei GAK, Austria tätig" (in German). news.at. 15 July 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  5. "Eric Akoto red card forgotten as NQ Fury prepare to tackle Melbourne Victory minus Kevin Muscat". Courier Mail. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  6. "NQ Fury opt against Kevin Muscat complaint after Eric Akoto red card". Courier Mail. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  7. Stewart, Antony (6 July 2010). "Fury offers new life away from horrors". townsvillebulletin.com.au. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
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