Emmanuel Adebayor

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Emmanuel Adebayor bigraphy, stories - Professional footballer

Emmanuel Adebayor : biography

26 February 1984 –

Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (born 26 February 1984), known as Emmanuel Adebayor, is a Togolese footballer who currently plays as a forward for Tottenham Hotspur and the Togo national team. Adebayor previously played for Metz, Monaco, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Manchester City. He was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2008.

Adebayor represented the Togo national football team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the country’s début, and to date only, appearance at the World Cup. In January 2010, Adebayor was one of the players involved when the Togo team’s bus came under gunfire on the way to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, after which he retired from national team duty. In 2013 he returned to the Togo team for the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa, where he helped them to qualify for the quarterfinals. He is currently Togo’s all-time top goalscorer with 27 goals.

A towering striker, Adebayor is described as being "[t]all, skilful, strong in the air and with the ability to score and create."

Club career

Early career

In his first season and last, he played nine games and scored twice. In the 2002–03 season, Adebayor scored 17 goals in 35 games. He signed a new contract with Monaco in 2003, and he scored seven goals in 17 appearances, helping them reach the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final with two goals in 10 games.

Arsenal

On 13 January 2006, Arsenal signed Adebayor for a reported £3m. He was given the nickname "Baby Kanu" due to his resemblance to former Arsenal star Nwankwo Kanu, whom Adebayor had idolised as a youth.. arsenal-mania.com On 4 February 2006, Adebayor made his Arsenal debut in a Premiership match at Birmingham City and scored after 21 minutes, with Arsenal winning 2–0. At the end of his first season for the Gunners he had scored four goals in ten matches. However, Adebayor was cup-tied for Arsenal’s 2005–06 Champions League campaign as they reached the final against Barcelona, having appeared for Monaco in the qualifying rounds of the competition.

Adebayor scored Arsenal’s winning goal against Manchester United to give Arsenal a 1–0 win at Old Trafford, their first league win of the 2006–07 season. Earlier in the game, Adebayor was brought down in the six-yard box to earn Arsenal a penalty, which was taken by Gilberto Silva and saved. On 8 November 2006, Adebayor scored the only goal of the match to send Arsenal into the quarterfinals of the League Cup against Everton.

He was sent off in Arsenal’s 2–1 League Cup final loss to Chelsea. He was shown a red card after a fracas towards the end of the match involving both Chelsea and Arsenal players. It was alleged that he had thrown a punch at Frank Lampard. The FA subsequently gave him an additional one-match ban and a fine of £7,500 for failing to leave the field of play immediately, as well as a three-match ban for the red card. Adebayor and Lampard both denied it.

On 19 January, after scoring twice against Fulham, the fans sang, "Adebayor, Adebayor, give him the ball, and he will score". After scoring a penalty during the 3–1 win over Portsmouth, his two goals against Tottenham helped Arsenal win 3–1 in the first North London derby of the season. Adebayor then scored his first hat-trick for Arsenal in a 5–0 home win against Derby County on 22 September; this was the second-ever hat-trick scored at the Emirates. He was involved in a controversial incident on 22 January in which he clashed with teammate Nicklas Bendtner seven minutes from the end of a 5–1 League Cup semi-final defeat to Tottenham. Bendtner appeared to cut his nose in the clash, for which Adebayor apologised the following day. Three days later he scored the hundredth goal at the Emirates during the side’s 3–0 FA Cup victory over Newcastle United. Starting on 4 March against Milan, Adebayor went on a goalscoring streak in the Champions League. Despite having never scored before in the competition, he scored a goal in the 2nd leg against Milan at the San Siro. On 13 April in a Premier League game against Manchester United, Adebayor scored Arsenal’s only goal, a game which they lost 2–1 at Old Trafford. He scored his second hat-trick for Arsenal after coming off the bench at half time in the 6–2 win against Derby County on 28 April, making him the only player in the Premiership’s history to score a hat-trick home and away against the same side in the same season. Although Arsenal finished the season empty handed, he was named in the PFA Team of the Year. Adebayor’s second goal against Tottenham Hotspur won Match of the Day’s Goal of the Season competition for the 2007–08 season. He was also awarded the BBC African Footballer of the Year for his performance in 2008.