 nelson ndukwe akwari (born february 4, 1982 in houston, texas) is an american soccer player. ==career== ===youth and college=== akwari attended strake jesuit college preparatory, a private school in houston, before attending ussf's bradenton academy, where he trained with other under-17 national teamers like landon donovan, damarcus beasley, and bobby convey. although he considered turning pro, akwari instead went to ucla to play college soccer. he stayed at ucla two years, starting every game as a freshman in 2000, and being named second-team all pac-10 as a sophomore. ===professional=== akwari left college after his sophomore year to pursue opportunities in europe, but when nothing came of them, he signed a project-40 contract with mls late in the 2002 season. akwari was put into a lottery, which the metrostars won; akwari appeared in seven games and was traded during the offseason to the columbus crew. akwari saw little playing time in 2003, appearing in 11 games but starting only five for the crew, while spending a lot of time on loan to a-league's cincinnati riverhawks. in his third year in the league, akwari began to show much more of the promise that he had as a youth national teamer - he took possession of the starting right back position midseason, and remained there for the rest of the year, ending the season with 16 starts as the crew won t
1982_births American_soccer_players Association_football_defenders Charleston_Battery_players Charlotte_Eagles_players Cincinnati_Riverhawks_players Columbus_Crew_players Expatriate_soccer_players_in_Canada Living_people Major_League_Soccer_players New_York_Red_Bulls_players Orange_County_Blues_FC_players Real_Salt_Lake_players Soccer_players_from_Texas Sportspeople_from_Houston,_Texas Strake_Jesuit_College_Preparatory_alumni UCLA_Bruins_men\'s_soccer_players USL_A-League_players USL_First_Division_players USL_Professional_Division_players USL_Second_Division_players USSF_Division_2_Professional_League_players United_States_men\'s_under-23_international_soccer_players United_States_men\'s_youth_international_soccer_players Vancouver_Whitecaps_(1986a2010)_players