Rodgers Kola

Rodgers Kola

Personal information
Full name	Rodgers Kola
Date of birth	(1989-07-04) 4 July 1989
Place of birth	Lusaka, Zambia
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Forward Winger
Team information
Current team	Veria
Number	14
Youth career
2004–2006	Edusport
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008	Zanaco	0	(0)
2008–2009	Golden Arrows	10	(1)
2009–2010	Hapoel Bnei Lod	14	(1)
2010–2011	Hapoel Rishon LeZion	29	(11)
2011–2012	F.C. Ashdod	17	(5)
2012–	Gent	22	(2)
2014–2015	→ Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona (loan)	18	(6)
2015–	→ Veria (loan)	4	(0)
International career‡
2008–	Zambia	17	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 October 2015 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 July 2015

Rodgers Kola (born 4 July 1989) is a Zambian footballer who plays for Veria and the Zambian national team. He is a versatile forward who is usually deployed on the wing.

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 team mates 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.

On 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. Kola made his debut on 12 September 2015 in a 0–3 home defeat against PAOK where he had a few chances to scorer with headers though Robin Olsen stopped him twice.

International career

He already played 13 gamed in the team of the African Cup of Nations 2012-winner Zambia, in which he scored 3 times.

Honours

Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona

• Israel State Cup: 2014

External links

• Rodgers Kola at National-Football-Teams.com
• UEFA profile*