By his own admission, Nelson Akwari could be more vocal. But when the U.S. U-20 captain speaks out, people listen. His commanding presence makes him one of the country’s brightest young defenders.

Nelson Akwari needn’t shout to be heard. He doesn’t even have to speak.

He’s the actions-louder-than-words brand of leader, all business on the field and anything but boisterous off.

It’s a quality all his coaches quickly caught onto, and so, more often than not, it’s Akwari’s biceps wrapped in the captain’s armband.

That’s how it is with the U.S. under-20 squad, which is looking to better the performance of the last group of U-17s, which – with Akwari one of its captains – reached the semifinals of the world championship.

“Nellie’s always been a player that leads by example but commands,” says U-17 coach John Ellinger. “He’s a quiet leader, but if he has to speak up, he will. And when he speaks up, people listen.”

“He’s very mature for his age; he’s already a role model,” U-20 coach Wolfgang Suhnholz says of the 19-year-old defender. “He’s going to make it a long way in his career.

“I can’t say one bad word about the kid. He works extremely hard, is very well respected by his peers and the coaching staff. I see Nelson as an overall complete player. He’s a leader, a very good organizer – he’s almost like a statue in our back [line].”

Suhnholz means that in the good sense, that Akwari is sturdy. Ellinger calls him an “unsung hero.”

“Give him a job to do,” Ellinger says, “and he does it, game-in and game-out.”

Such performances have made Akwari a fixture on Suhnholz’s back line, where he’s paired in the middle with Alex Yi, his teammate with the U-17s and at UCLA. Two more U-17 starters – UCLA goalkeeper D.J. Countess and Clemson left back Oguchi Onyewu – are next to them.

The U-20s possess outstanding attacking talent. Solid defense could mean the difference between success and failure at this summer’s World Youth Championship in Argentina.

SERIOUS DEMEANOR. Akwari, a strong 5-foot-11, 180-pounder, always was a mature kid and a leader, reports Hannah Akwari, his mom.

“Sometimes – this is the truth – he’s more mature than I am, in the way he handles some situations,” she says. “I look at him and say, ‘OK, Nelson wouldn’t do it this way’ – I copy a few things from him.”

“From the outside, you don’t notice [how well he leads] as much as when you see him on a daily basis,” says UCLA coach Todd Saldana. “He has a very serious demeanor when he plays and trains and sets a great example. His style is more by example, but he’s not afraid to speak his mind when it’s important. That’s why he gets people’s attention.”

Akwari gee-shucks most of the platitudes, no surprise to Mom.

“He’s very shy, a very shy human being,” she says. “He doesn’t like publicity; he shies away from too much publicity.”

As a defender, only so much comes his way.

“A lot of people enjoy scoring goals,” says Akwari, who cites tactical awareness as the most developed part of his game. “I’ve always enjoyed being the one who’s stopping goals. Defenders are the smartest players on the field, organizing the people in front of us. I’ve always enjoyed that, being one of the tactical players, keeping my head in the game.”

What does he need to work on? “I could be more vocal. Maybe I don’t share as much as I can. I think I do, but maybe I’m not as clear as I need to be.”

COLLEGE OR PRO. Hannah Akwari takes credit for her son’s decision to attend UCLA, where he was a freshman last fall. MLS had approached Nelson during his U-17 tenure, and he was interested in the offer.

“My thought always was he needs to go to college, and after college, then he can play soccer,” Hannah says. “The more I tried to sway him from being a professional soccer player, the more interested he was.”

The Akwaris prize education, and they made sure their middle son understood that. Bill and Hannah Akwari had been high school sweethearts in Nigeria who came to North America to attend college. Bill went to USC, and Hannah studied at Concordia University in Montreal.

“Because of the culture, our families wouldn’t let us go to the same university,” Hannah says. “They thought we’d just run off and get married, not go to school.”

They provided Nelson compelling arguments.

“If I’d made the decision on my own,” he says, “I’d probably have gone pro right away. Now I think about what I’d have missed. I don’t regret going to school.”

Pro soccer will come soon enough, then perhaps a World Cup or two. His progress is being monitored across the Atlantic. Bill and Hannah keep the family in Nigeria apprised of Nelson’s progress.

“They’re all very proud of him,” she reports. “They wish he would come back and play for Nigeria.”

by Soccer America senior editor Scott French