Chijioke Akuneto

Chijioke Akuneto
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-10-10) 10 October 1997 (age 27)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Rivers United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–2019 MFM F.C.
2019–2020 Sunshine Stars F.C.
2020–2021 Heartland FC 24 (5)
2021–2022 Rivers United 36 (19)
2023- Enyimba FC
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:15, 30 October 2022 (UTC)

Chijioke Akuneto (born 10 October 1997) is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Enyimba F.C. in the Nigerian Professional Football League. He was the league’s top goalscorer in the 2021– 22 season whilst playing for Rivers United.

Career

Akuneto played for Lagos-based MFM F.C. in the Nigeria Professional Football League in 2019 and scored four goals in his first thirteen games.[1] In August 2019 he was signed by Sunshine Stars.[2]

Akuneto played for Heartland FC during the 2020-21 Nigeria Professional Football League season and he scored five goals and was also credited with an assist from his 24 league games.[3]

After joining Rivers United, in March 2022 he scored the first hat-trick of the entire 2021–22 Nigeria Professional Football League season.[4] Akuneto would ultimately go on to score 19 goals during the 2021–22 campaign, making him comfortably the league’s top scorer, three goals clear of any rivals.[5][6]

In March 2023 he was announced as signing for Enyimba F.C. under coach Finidi George.[7]

International career

In July 2022 he was called into the Nigerian squad for the 2022 African Nations Championship qualification matches against Ghana played in August and September 2022.[8] After a 3-1 first league defeat, Akuneto scored his first goal in a Nigerian shirt in the 94th minute of the second leg to secure the match 2-0 and send the tie to a penalty shoot-out, which Ghana won.[9][10]

Personal life

Akuneto dedicated a goal he scored on 1 April 2019 for MFM F.C. to the newborn child he and his wife Temitope had lost in the previous 24 hours. He stated he had only played in the match on his wife’s wishes.[11]

Honours

Rivers United

References

  1. ^ "MFM midfielder Chijioke Akuneto reveals goal target after scoring against Enyimba". goal.com.
  2. ^ "Sunshine Stars secure deals for four MFM players". goal.com.
  3. ^ "Meet NPFL Top 5 net busters". punchng.com.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ "Chijioke Akuneto nets the first hat trick of the 2021-22 NPFL season". Brilla.net. 21 March 2022.
  5. ^ "NPFL: Chijioke Akuneto receives Eunisell Boot Award". aclsports.com.
  6. ^ "Akuneto to Receive Eunisell's N3.8m, Boot as 2021/22 NPFL Top Scorer". thisdaylive.com.
  7. ^ "Enyimba sign former Rivers United forward Chijioke Akuneto". Brilla.net. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Algeria 2023: NPFL top scorer Akuneto headlines 35-man list for CHAN qualifiers against Ghana". premiumtimesng.com.
  9. ^ "CHAN: Ezenwa blames NFF for Super Eagles qualifying failure". brilla.net. 7 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Nigeria 2-0 Ghana (2-2 agg, 4-5 pen): Black Galaxies qualify for 2023 African Nations Championship". Goal.com.
  11. ^ "I dedicate my goal to my late child - Akuneto Chijioke". brilla.net. April 2019.

Chijioke Akuneto at Soccerway