Rodgers Kola

Rodgers Kola
Personal information
Full name	Rodgers Kola
Date of birth	4 July 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth	Lusaka, Zambia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Forward; Winger
Team information
Current team	Zanaco
Youth career
2004–2006	Edusport
Senior career*
Years	Team
2008	Zanaco
2008–2009	Golden Arrows
2009–2010	Hapoel Bnei Lod
2010–2011	Hapoel Rishon LeZion
2011–2012	F.C. Ashdod
2012–2017	Gent
2014–2015	→ Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona (loan)
2015–2016	→ Veria (loan)
2016–2017	→ Hapoel Ra'anana (loan)
2019–2021	Zanaco
2021–	Azam
International career‡
2008-2021	Zambia
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 January 2017; ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 November 2016

Rodgers Kola (born 4 July 1989) is a Zambian footballer who plays for Zanaco. He is a versatile forward who is usually deployed on the wing.^[2]

Club career

Kola was born in Lusaka. He signed for Russia's PFC Spartak Nalchik in July 2008 but could not link up with his teammates in Russia due to visa problems. Because of this, he returned to Zanaco in Zambia.

Kola successfully scored 2 goals at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup and caught the eye of many European Clubs. He also scored 2 goals in a practice match against Zambia National U-20 Football team and another 2 against a German side in another practice match.

In 2009, he moved to Israel to play in Hapoel Bnei Lod who plays in the second division in Israel, a year later he moved to Hapoel Ironi Rishon LeZion from the same division.

In 2011, he started playing for the Israeli team F.C. Ashdod. Over there, he scored 7 goals in 31 games.

On 8 May 2012, it was announced that Kola would start playing in Belgium for the team K.A.A. Gent.

In January 2014, Kola returned to Israel and signed with Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona. On January 28, he scored his first goal for the club against Hapoel Ironi Acre in the 8th round of the Israel State Cup. Kola scored against Beitar Jerusalem in the quarter finals match and in the semi-final match versus Hapoel Be'er Sheva and eventually won the Israeli State Cup. This was the first Israeli State Cup title Hapoel Kiryat Shmona ever won.

On 25 July 2015, Kola, was loaned to the Greek club Veria, for one year.^[3] Kola made his debut on 12 September 2015 in a 0–3 home defeat against PAOK where he had a few chances to score with headers though Robin Olsen stopped him twice.

International career

He already played 13 games in the team of the African Cup of Nations 2012-winner Zambia, in which he scored 2 times.

International goals

Scores and results list Zambia's goal tally first.^[4]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	25 May 2008	Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran	Iran	2–2	2–3	Friendly
2.	4 January 2009	Bugembe Stadium, Jinja, Uganda	Burundi	1–0	1–1	2008 CECAFA Cup

Honours

Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona

Israel State Cup: 2014

Individual

Zambia Super League Top scorer: 2008

References

^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 5 July 2007. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2013.
^ "Kola at goal". goal.com.
^ Antonis. "Ποδοσφαιριστής της Βέροιας ο Rodgers Kola". ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ - ΕΠΙΣΗΜΗ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ (in Greek). Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
^ "Kola, Rodgers". National Football Teams. Retrieved 21 June 2018.

External links

Rodgers Kola at National-Football-Teams.com
Rodgers Kola – UEFA competition record (archive)
Rodgers Kola at Soccerway

This biographical article related to Zambian association football is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[FIFA-1] "FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 5 July 2007. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 December 2013.

[2] "Kola at goal". goal.com.

[3] Antonis. "Ποδοσφαιριστής της Βέροιας ο Rodgers Kola". ΠΑΕ ΒΕΡΟΙΑ - ΕΠΙΣΗΜΗ ΙΣΤΟΣΕΛΙΔΑ (in Greek). Archived from the original on 16 November 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.

[NFT-4] "Kola, Rodgers". National Football Teams. Retrieved 21 June 2018.

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