Anthony Nwakaeme
{{short description|Nigerian footballer (born 1989)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Anthony Nwakaeme
| image = Anthony Nwakaeme.JPG
| caption =
| full_name = Anthony Nnaduzor Nwakaeme{{cite web |url=https://tff.org/Default.aspx?pageID=526&kisiID=2117044 |title=Anthony Nnaduzor Nwakaeme |publisher=Turkish Football Federation |access-date=8 February 2025}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1989|3|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = Lagos, Nigeria
| height = 1.85 m
| position = Left winger
| currentclub = Trabzonspor
| clubnumber = 9
| youthyears1 = 2006–2009
| youthclubs1 = Vejle Football Academy
| years1 = 2010–2012
| clubs1 = Universitatea Cluj
| caps1 = 37
| goals1 = 8
| years2 = 2010–2011
| clubs2 = → Arieșul Turda
| caps2 = 8
| goals2 = 5
| years3 = 2012–2013
| clubs3 = Petrolul Ploiești
| caps3 = 3
| goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2013
| clubs4 = Universitatea Cluj
| caps4 = 10
| goals4 = 2
| years5 = 2013–2015
| clubs5 = Hapoel Ra'anana
| caps5 = 55
| goals5 = 13
| years6 = 2015–2018
| clubs6 = Hapoel Be'er Sheva
| caps6 = 95
| goals6 = 35
| years7 = 2018–2022
| clubs7 = Trabzonspor
| caps7 = 120
| goals7 = 41
| years8 = 2022–2024
| clubs8 = Al-Fayha
| caps8 = 45
| goals8 = 13
| years9 = 2024–
| clubs9 = Trabzonspor
| caps9 = 20
| goals9 = 1
| nationalyears1 = 2017
| nationalteam1 = Nigeria
| nationalcaps1 = 1
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| club-update = 16 June 2025
| nationalteam-update =
}}
Anthony Nnaduzor "Tony" Nwakaeme (born 21 March 1989) is a Nigerian professional footballer who currently plays as a left winger for Turkish club Trabzonspor.{{soccerway|nwakaeme-anthony-nuatuzor/153909}}
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.{{cite web|title=ליגת העל: הפועל חיפה והפועל רעננה נפרדו ב-1:1|url=https://sports.walla.co.il/item/2674742}}
=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.{{cite web|title=Tony signed a four year contract in Hapoel Be'er Sheva|url=https://pulse.ng/sports/football/anthony-nwakaeme-nigerian-player-signs-for-israeli-club-hapoel-beer-sheva-id3906585.html|website=Pulse.ng|accessdate=3 April 2016}}
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.{{cite web |last1=Abayomi |first1=Tosin |title=Nigerian striker joins Onazi at Trabzonspor |url=https://www.pulse.ng/sports/football/anthony-nwakaeme-joins-ogenyi-onazi-at-trabzonspor-id8747092.html |website=pulse.ng |accessdate=20 August 2018}}
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.{{cite web |title=A. Nwakaeme |url=https://int.soccerway.com/players/nwakaeme-anthony-nuatuzor/153909/ |website=Soccerway |accessdate=1 August 2018}}{{NFT|69286}}
In April 2019, he said he deserved to make a further appearance for Nigeria.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47847616|title=Anthony Nwakaeme: 'I deserve another chance with Nigeria'|date=7 April 2019|website=BBC Sport|accessdate=28 August 2019|first=Oluwashina|last=Okeleji}}
Personal life
Anthony Nwakaeme is the younger brother of professional footballer Dickson Nwakaeme.{{cite web | url=https://www.gsp.ro/fotbal/liga-1/de-la-fratii-costea-la-fratii-nwakaeme-u-vrea-sa-l-transfere-pe-fratele-nigerianului-tony-282921.html | title=De la fraţii Costea, la fraţii Nwakaeme. "U" vrea să-l transfere pe fratele nigerianului Tony| publisher=Gsp.ro| language=Romanian |trans-title=
From the Costea brothers to the Nwakaeme brothers. "U" wants to transfer the brother of Nigerian Tony| date=23 November 2011 | access-date=24 March 2021}}{{cite web | url=https://zcj.ro/sport/dinastia-nwakaeme-fratele-lui-tony-ar-putea-ajunge-la-u-video--78724.html | title=Dinastia Nwakaeme: fratele lui Tony ar putea ajunge la "U"| publisher=Zcj.ro| language=Romanian |trans-title=Nwakaeme Dynasty: Tony's brother could come at "U"| date=21 November 2011 | access-date=24 March 2021}}
Career statistics
{{Updated|17 January 2025}}{{RomanianSoccer|1432/nwakaeme-anthony-nuatuzor-tony}}{{WorldFootball|anthony-nwakaeme}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||||||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup{{efn|Includes Romanian Cup, Israel State Cup, Turkish Cup, King Cup}} !colspan="2"|League cup{{efn|Includes Toto Cup}} !colspan="2"|Continental !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals||Apps||Goals||Apps||Goals||Apps||Goals||Apps | Goals | ||||||
| Arieșul Turda
|8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 8 | 5 | |||
| rowspan="4"|Universitatea Cluj
|rowspan="3"|Liga I |9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 9 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12
|28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 29 | 7 | |||
| 2012–13
|10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 11 | 2 | |||
| colspan="2"|Total
!47||10||1||0||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||48||10 | |||||||||||
| Petrolul Ploiești
|Liga I |3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 4 | 0 | |||
| rowspan="3"|Hapoel Ra'anana
|rowspan="2"|IPL |30 | 6 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 32 | 6 | |||
| 2014–15
|25 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 30 | 7 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!55||13||4||0||3||0||colspan="2"|–||colspan="2"|–||62||13 | |||||||||||
| rowspan="5"|Hapoel Be'er Sheva
|rowspan="4"|IPL |34 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2{{efn|name=UEL|Appearances in UEFA Europa League}} | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 46 | 13 | |
| 2016–17
|33 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 13{{efn|Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League}} | 2 | 1{{efn|name=ISC|Appearance in Israel Super Cup}} | 1 | 49 | 19 |
| 2017–18
|28 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11{{efn|Six appearances and four goals in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League}} | 5 | 1{{efn|name=ISC}} | 1 | 45 | 17 |
| 2018–19
|0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4{{efn|Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League}} | 1 | 1{{efn|name=ISC}} | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| colspan="2"|Total
!95||35||8||3||9||2||30||8||3||2||145||50 | |||||||||||
| rowspan="6"|Trabzonspor
|rowspan="5"|Süper Lig |27 | 10 | 4 | 1 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 31 | 11 | |||
| 2019–20
|29 | 11 | 6 | 2 | colspan="2"|– | 8{{efn|name=UEL}} | 1 | colspan="2"|– | 43 | 14 | ||
| 2020–21
|34 | 7 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 1{{efn|name=KUPA|Appearance in Turkish Super Cup}} | 0 | 36 | 7 | ||
| 2021–22
|30 | 13 | 2 | 1 | colspan="2"|– | 4{{efn|Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League}} | 1 | colspan="2"|– | 36 | 15 | ||
| 2024–25
|11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | colspan="2"|– | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 12 | 2 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!131||42||14||5||colspan="2"|–||12||2||1||0||158||49 | |||||||||||
| rowspan="3"|Al-Fayha
|rowspan="2"|SPL |25 | 9 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | colspan="2"|– | 1{{efn|Appearance in Saudi Super Cup}} | 0 | 28 | 9 | ||
| 2023–24
|20 | 4 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|– | 3{{efn|Appearances in AFC Champions League}} | 2 | colspan="2"|– | 25 | 6 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!45||13||4||0||colspan="2"|–||3||2||1||0||53||15 | |||||||||||
| colspan="3"|Career total
!377||117||31||7||12||2||45||12||5||2||470||140 |
{{notelist}}
Honours
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Trabzonspor
- Süper Lig: 2021–22
- Turkish Cup: 2019–20
- Turkish Super Cup: 2020{{cite news|title=Süper Kupa Trabzonspor'un! (ÖZET) Başakşehir - Trabzonspor maç sonucu: 1-2|url=https://www.fanatik.com.tr/super-kupa-trabzonsporun-ozet-basaksehir-trabzonspor-mac-sonucu-1-2-2197753|publisher=Fanatik|date=27 January 2021|accessdate=27 January 2021|language=Tr|archive-url=https://archive.today/20210127213509/https://www.fanatik.com.tr/super-kupa-trabzonsporun-ozet-basaksehir-trabzonspor-mac-sonucu-1-2-2197753|archive-date=27 January 2021|url-status=live}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Soccerway|nwakaeme-anthony-nuatuzor/153909}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110406023025/http://liga1.ro/html/pagina_personala_jucator/Nwakaeme_Anthony-1243.html Player profile on Liga1.ro]
{{Trabzonspor squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nwakaeme, Anthony}}
Category:Footballers from Lagos
Category:Nigerian men's footballers
Category:Men's association football forwards
Category:FC Universitatea Cluj players
Category:ACS Sticla Arieșul Turda players
Category:FC Petrolul Ploiești players
Category:Hapoel Ra'anana A.F.C. players
Category:Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. players
Category:Trabzonspor footballers
Category:Israeli Premier League players
Category:Saudi Pro League players
Category:Nigerian expatriate men's footballers
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Romania
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Israel
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia
Category:Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Category:Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Romania
Category:Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel
Category:Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey