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Raphael Patron Akakpo


CLUB:
Mumbai club ()
POSITION:
Forward
BORN:
0000-00-00
BIRTHPLACE:
PREVIOUS CLUBS:
Brunei (Malaysia), Terengganu (Malaysia)
HEIGHT / WEIGHT:
NIKNAME:
The Smiling Assassin
GHANA DEBUT :
0000-00-00
CAPS/GOALS:

Sacked by Brunei in mid-season 2002. Brunei terminated Akakpo’s services in April 2001 following a poor run in Premier II.

Played a key role in Brunei's success to win the Malaysia Cup in 1999.

Joined Mumbai club of India in August 2003

August 11 2003

Raphael Patron Akakpo sure couldn’t have asked for more — no, not after Shanmugam Venkatesh tricked past the Mohammedan Sporting goalkeeper on Saturday to help Mahindra United lift the Federation Cup for the first time.
The 22-year-old Ghanaian agreed as much after the team reached the city yesterday. “It wasn’t the first final for me, I have played in finals before, while playing for Brunei and in the Malaysian league (for Terengganu club). But this was another big achievement for me personally. I am quite satisfied with my performance,” said Akokpo, who joined the Mumbai club just about a couple of weeks before the big tourney.
“It was a great victory for the whole team — the defence, midfield… everyone had a memorable tournament.”
The lanky forwards didn’t fail to pay back coach David Booth’s trust in him (“I had played under Booth when he was coach in Brunei”) as he drove the final nail in the Air-India coffin during the Mumbai champions’ 3-0 victory in the quarter-final. And then the twin strike that left Vasco Sports Club all at Goa’s famed pristine sea during the team’s 2-1 semi-final win.
Akokpo feels the Fed Cup was the perfect opening to his Indian sojourn, especially in the football-crazy environs of Kolkata. Having played in South-East Asia, he said he had some idea about the craze for the game in this part of the world, “but the support in Kolkata was really good for the game in this country.”
And as far as the Indian red devils are concerned, the smiling assassin from Ghana feels he’s getting along with the team quite well. Early days yet, but the drudge, sludge (and grudge) of playing week in and week out at the ever deteriorating Cooperage will narrate the full extent of that part of this last story.