# Kanga Akalé

Kanga Gauthier Akalé (born 7 March 1981) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

## Club career

Whilst at Auxerre he helped them win the Coupe de France in both 2003 and 2005, playing in both finals. In June 2007, Akalé signed a four-year contract with RC Lens for an undisclosed transfer fee, and he was loaned to Marseille in January 2008, then Recreativo de Huelva. Originally a striker, he started playing as a central midfielder or left winger. He is described as a pacey player with top technical abilities.
In 2011, Akalé joined Qatari club Lekhwiya SC to cover for injured striker, and countryman Bakari Koné. He made his debut in the 2011 Qatari Stars Cup on 11 November, and scored a hat-trick against Al Rayyan in a 3–1 win.
On 31 January 2012, Akalé signed a six-month contract with Greek club Panetolikos F.C. About three months after becoming a free agent, on 24 October 2012, Akalé joined French Ligue 2 side Arles-Avignon on a two-year contract.

## International career

He has 35 caps for the national team, and was called up to the 2006 World Cup.

## Personal life

Akalé holds both Ivorian and French nationalities. His son Aaron is a youth international for France.

## Career statistics
### Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total | Ref. |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Ref. |
| Stella Club | 1998 | Ligue 1 (Ivory Coast) | 17 | 6 | | | | | | | 17 | 6 | |
| Sion | 1998–99 | Nationalliga A | 25 | 6 | | | – | – | | | 25 | 6 | |
| FC Zürich | 1999–2000 | Nationalliga A | 6 | 0 | | | – | – | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| FC Zürich | 2000–01 | Nationalliga A | 16 | 2 | | | – | – | 1 | 0 | 17 | 2 | |
| FC Zürich | 2001–02 | Nationalliga A | 28 | 1 | | | – | – | 0 | 0 | 28 | 1 | |
| FC Zürich | 2002–03 | Nationalliga A | 18 | 5 | | | – | – | 7 | 4 | 25 | 9 | |
| FC Zürich | Total | Total | 68 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 78 | 12 | – |
| Auxerre | 2002–03 | Ligue 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Auxerre | 2003–04 | Ligue 1 | 23 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 31 | 4 | |
| Auxerre | 2004–05 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 51 | 5 | |
| Auxerre | 2005–06 | Ligue 1 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 4 | |
| Auxerre | 2006–07 | Ligue 1 | 35 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 44 | 10 | |
| Auxerre | Total | Total | 126 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 171 | 23 | – |
| Lens | 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 3 | |
| Lens | 2009–10 | Ligue 1 | 28 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 2 | |
| Lens | 2010–11 | Ligue 1 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3 | |
| Lens | Total | Total | 67 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 81 | 8 | – |
| Marseille (loan) | 2007–08 | Ligue 1 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |
| Recreativo de Huelva (loan) | 2008–09 | La Liga | 26 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 28 | 1 | |
| Lekhwiya | 2011–12 | Qatar Stars League | 2 | 0 | | | – | – | | | 2 | 0 | |
| Panetolikos | 2011–12 | Super League Greece | 9 | 0 | | | | | | | 9 | 0 | |
| Arles-Avignon | 2012–13 | Ligue 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 6 | 0 | |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 363 | 46 | 22 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 40 | 9 | 439 | 57 | – |

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Ivory Coast | 2002 | 1 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 2003 | 5 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 2004 | 3 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 2005 | 4 | 1 |
| Ivory Coast | 2006 | 12 | 2 |
| Ivory Coast | 2007 | 2 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 2008 | 8 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 35 | 3 |
    Scores and results list the Ivory Coast's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Akalé goal.
List of international goals scored by Kanga Akalé :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| | 4 June 2006 | Bondoufle, France | Slovenia | | 3–0 | Friendly |
| | 14 June 2008 | Gaborone, Botswana | Botswana | | 1–1 | 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification |

## Honors

Ivory Coast
* Africa Cup of Nations runner-up:2006