Steve Zakuani

Steve Zakuani

Zakuani in 2010
Personal information
Date of birth	(1988-02-09) February 9, 1988
Place of birth	Kinshasa, Zaire
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Portland Timbers
Number	7
Youth career
1997–2003	Arsenal
2007–2008	Akron Zips
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2008	Cleveland Internationals	11	(9)
2009–2013	Seattle Sounders FC	80	(17)
2014–	Portland Timbers	0	(0)
National team‡
2010	Congo DR[1]	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 13, 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of November 18, 2010

Steve Zakuani (born February 9, 1988) is a Congolese association football player who currently plays for the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer. Born in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Zakuani grew up in London playing for the Arsenal youth academy before attending the University of Akron on a soccer scholarship. In 2008 he was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy and was named Soccer America men's collegiate player of the year.

Zakuani's professional career began with Seattle Sounders FC in 2009. He was drafted by the MLS expansion club as the first pick of the first round of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft on a Generation Adidas contract. In his first season he scored four goals and four assists and was a finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year. In the 2010 season he increased his goal total to ten and scored Sounders FC's first ever playoff goal. On November 10, 2010, Zakuani made his first international soccer appearance representing DR Congo in a friendly match.

Career

Youth and college

Zakuani was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and moved to London at the age of four. His father, Mao Zakuani, moved his family there for political and professional reasons after receiving a job offer as a translator.^[2] The family switched homes often and lived with extended family for long periods of time. They eventually settled in north London in a neighbourhood with other African families, where Zakuani attended White Hart Lane School.^[3]

At the age of nine, Zakuani earned interest from West Ham United. He later tried out for the youth team of Queens Park Rangers. In 1997, he joined the Arsenal Academy. Zakuani became cocky and brash while not focusing on schoolwork, and he was released from Arsenal by 2002. Zakuani's knee and foot were severely injured in a crash on a moped that one of his friends had stolen.^[2] The accident left him unable to play for 18 months. After becoming less passionate about the game and renewing his efforts in school, Zakuani was taken by his teacher and mentor, Paul Goodison, to watch motivational speaker and evangelist Myles Munroe. This was a life changing event for Zakuani, and he recommitted himself to becoming a professional player. Along with Munroe, Zakuani considers John Wooden, Malcolm X, and Jesus Christ to be his heroes.^[3] He unsuccessfully tried out to join the senior teams of Queens Park Rangers, Wigan Athletic, AZ Alkmaar, and Real Valladolid shortly after.^[2]

He was spotted by the University of Akron at a development centre in north London called the Independent Football Academy.^[4] After choosing to attend the university on a scholarship, Zakuani scored six goals in his freshman season with the Akron Zips. This led to a professional offer that summer from Preston North End, but he had promised to return to Akron for his sophomore season.^[2] In 2008, he led the nation in scoring with 20 goals and 7 assists in 23 games to become a finalist for the Hermann Trophy.^[5] He was only the second sophomore to be named Soccer America's men's collegiate player of the year for the season's efforts.^[4] His coach Caleb Porter said half of Zakuani's goals were individual efforts of "40-, 50-yard runs and beating three or four guys along the way," and that "Steve Zakuanis don't come around very often."^[2]

He played part of the 2008 USL Premier Development League season with the Cleveland Internationals. While only playing 11 matches, Zakuani scored nine goals and made four assists.^[6]

Professional

Zakuani was selected by Seattle Sounders FC as the number one pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft on a Generation Adidas contract.^[7] He had turned down other contract offers to sign with Major League Soccer since the Generation Adidas program would allow for him to return to school to finish his education.^[8] Zakuani was a finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year in 2009 after leading all MLS rookies in scoring with four goals and four assists.^[9] On September 2, 2009, Sounders FC became the second MLS expansion team in league history (Chicago was first) to win the U.S. Open Cup tournament in their first season.^[10] Zakuani was a starter in the championship match.^[11]

Zakuani during a match against Philadelphia in 2010

In his second professional season, he scored ten goals in the regular season to tie for the team lead with Fredy Montero. He was named MLS Player of the Week twice, and also won Goal of the Week twice.^[12] He also recorded the fastest goal in Sounders history with his fourth minute tally against the Columbus Crew in a 1–1 draw at Qwest Field. It bettered the previous mark set by Zakuani the season before when he scored in the fifth minute at D.C. United.^[13] On October 5, 2010, Seattle won the 2010 U.S. Open Cup final, becoming the first team since 1983 to repeat as U.S. Open Cup champions.^[14] Zakuani was again in the starting lineup for Sounders FC in the final.^[15] On November 7, 2010, Zakuani scored the Sounders' first ever playoff goal in a 2–1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy.^[16]

The Sounders' management has encouraged its players to train with teams overseas. During a visit to England after the 2010 season, Zakuani trained with Everton to stay match fit.^[17] He received his green card before the 2011 season. This granted him permanent resident status in the US and exempted him from occupying one of the MLS limited international player slot on the club’s roster.^[9]

Zakuani scored two goals and had two assists in his first six appearances of the 2011 season.^[18] On April 22, 2011, three minutes into a game against the Colorado Rapids, Zakuani suffered a broken leg from a challenge by Brian Mullan, fracturing his tibia and fibula.^[19] He underwent successful surgery later that same day, and missed the remainder of the 2011 season. In April 2012, he made an appearance in a reserve match against Gonzaga University and played 45 minutes.^[20] On July 7, 2012, against the Colorado Rapids, Steve Zakuani made his first MLS appearance in 15 months and played with 5 minutes left of the game.^[21] Zakuani furthered his recovery by assisting on a goal for Mauro Rosales during a 1–1 draw at FC Dallas in early September.^[22] On September 22, 2012, Zakuani equalized the score against the San Jose Earthquakes at 1–1 by scoring his first goal in 17 months, but the match ended in a 2–1 loss to the Sounders.^[23] Zakuani finished the 2012 MLS season with 1 goal in 320 minutes over 8 matches and playing in 3 playoff games.^[24][25]

During the 2013 season, Zakuani made six appearances for the Sounders before going on injured reserve with a sports hernia. He underwent two surgeries, performed on each side of his groin.^[26] The Sounders took Zakuani off the injured reserve September 12, 2013.^[27]

On December 12, 2013, Zakuani was selected by the Portland Timbers as the number 2 pick in stage 1 of the MLS Re-Entry Process.^[28]

International

In 2009, Zakuani expressed interest in representing DR Congo if the opportunity presented itself.^[29] On November 12, 2010, Zakuani accepted a call up for a friendly match against Mali.^[30] He played his first 45 minutes of international football in the 3–1 loss.^[31] In a 2011 interview with Dan Brennan of Arsenal.com, Zakuani admitted he's eligible to play for DR Congo and England, and will be eligible to play for the United States in a few years. He said "Of the three, I prefer the States as this is where I made my name as a player, but we’ll see how things turn out."^[32]

Playing style

Zakuani is a quick and agile player who likes to take defenders one-on-one. Sounders' coach Sigi Schmid has said that Zakuani is a dangerous dribbler with good speed. He is right-footed and prefers playing on the left. He played on the left wing in a 4–4–2 formation with Arsenal and was a forward in college.^[29] Zakuani says that he plays with an attractive style he learned at Arsenal's youth academy.^[33]

Personal life

Zakuani has five siblings. An older brother, Gabriel Zakuani, currently plays for Peterborough United in England and is a member of the Congolese national team. Steve considers London his hometown but also considers himself Congolese.^[3][33]

As a teenager in London, he began "mixing with the wrong crowd."^[2] Zakuani was distracted from playing football by girls and parties.^[2] He said in an interview: "A lot of the people I grew up with ended up in prison, taking drugs, and never made it to university."^[3] He has strong feelings about the increase of knife crime in London since one of his friends was killed. In Seattle, he spends time with his teammates off of the field and has beaten several of them at the Pro Evolution video game.^[29] Zakuani enjoys reading and watching African comedies.

In 2010, he founded a non-profit organization called Kingdom Hope to run camps and provide scholarships.^[34][35] The project runs camps in the greater Seattle area. Zakuani has said that his ultimate goal is to open an academy to teach life coaching and soccer to teenagers in an effort to be a "bridge between talent and actually making it".^[36]

Career statistics

As of November 18, 2012.

Honours

Seattle Sounders FC

• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2): 2009, 2010

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

External links

• MLS player profile
• Kingdom Hope