Emmanuel Adebayor

Emmanuel Adebayor
Personal information
Full name	Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Arsenal
Number	25
	‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:13, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (born 26 February 1984 in Lomé) is a Togolese football player of Nigerian descent. He plays for Arsenal as a striker. He was voted African footballer of the year for 2008.

Club career

Early career

He made it to the U-15 level and was spotted by French club Metz. After a trial, Adebayor joined the club in 1999 and played at the U-17 level for two years before joining the first team. In his first season, he played nine games and scored twice. In the 2002–03 season, Adebayor scored seventeen goals in 35 games. he went on loan to Cahir Park fc at the age of 15 for 2 months but it didn't work out due to personal differences with coaching staff.

Monaco signed him to a contract in 2003, and he scored seven goals in seventeen appearances, helping them reach the Champions League final with two goals in ten games.

Arsenal

On 13 January 2006, Adebayor signed for Arsenal for an undisclosed fee reported to be £7m.^[3] He was given the nickname "Baby Kanu" due to his resemblance to former Arsenal star Nwankwo Kanu, who Adebayor had idolised as a youth.^[4]

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 quarter finals of the League Cup against Everton

Adebayor in 2008

He was sent off in Arsenal's 2–1 Carling Cup final loss to Chelsea. He was shown the 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 £7500 for failing to leave the field of play immediately, as well as a three-match ban for the red card. Adebayor was also sent off in a 1–1 draw with Liverpool after an altercation with Alvero Arbeloa, this was his second bookable offence of the game and therefore served a one-match ban as Arsenal were held 2–2 to Aston Villa on boxing day, despite Arsenal having a 2–0 lead. This result was followed by some heavy criticism of the referee and by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.

Arsenal fans celebrate Adebayor by chanting "Ade-bay-or, Ade-bay-or" to the tune of Westminster Chimes.^{[citation needed]} On 19 January, after scoring twice against Fulham, the fans sang, "Adebayor, Adebayor, give him the ball, and he will score".^[5] 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.^[6] Three days later he scored the hundredth goal at the Emirates during the side's 3–0 FA Cup victory over Newcastle United^[7] Starting on Tuesday 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.^{[citation needed]} He was also awarded the BBC African Footballer of the Year for his performance in 2008.

On the summer transfer window he was linked with a £30 million move to Milan and Barcelona, as well as a rumoured trade deal with Fenerbache for the Serbian striker Mateja Kezman,^{[citation needed]} but later insisted to stay at the club after he signed a long contract worth £80,000 a week. It was later rumoured that the Kezman swap fell through at the last minute because Arsene Wenger's strict financial policies made it impossible for the North London club to match the wage demands of a player of Kezman's calibre. On 13 September 2008, Adebayor scored a hat trick in Arsenal's 4–0 win away to Blackburn Rovers, getting his first league goals of the 2008–09 season. He then scored against FC Porto and a hosts of other clubs before being injured for 2 months. He made a brief resurgence of form, scoring a brace on his return against Manchester City. On April 7 2009 , Adebayor equalized a goal for Arsenal in the Quarter finals of the Champions League against Villareal, in which he chested the ball into his control and then performed a brilliant bicycle kick. In the return leg at the Emirates Stadium a week later, he scored in a 3-0 Arsenal win, setting up a semi-final showdown with Manchester United.

International career

Adebayor chose to play for Togo despite being eligible for Nigeria. Adebayor helped Togo qualify for the 2006 African Cup of Nations by scoring eleven goals in the qualifiers, more than any other player in the African qualifiers. He has been nominated for African Footballer of the Year. On 10 February 2009, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) picked Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor as the African Footballer of the Year for 2008 at an awards ceremony held in Lagos, Nigeria. Adebayor beat final nominees Mohamed Aboutrika of Egypt and Ghana's Michael Essien in a vote that involved the national team coaches of CAF's 54 member-nations. It was the first time a Togolese won the award as Africa's best player. (reference 11)

Adebayor helped Togo to qualify for World Cup 2006 and started all of Togo's group matches in Germany. He did not score any goals and Togo was eliminated in the group stage. He was made captain after the qualification.

He was called up for the 2006 African Cup of Nations, where he was a substitute for the country's first match, following a row with the coach. Adebayor first vowed to leave the tournament and return home, although he later resumed training with the side.^[8] Togo were eliminated after losing all three matches. He was dropped by Togo following the row over bonus payments.^[9] However, Adebayor was brought back into the Togo team in September 2007. On 11 October 2008, he scored 4 goals in Togo's 6–0 hammering of Swaziland during the World Cup qualification rounds.

Despite being injured, Adebayor played for Togo against Cameroon. Within this match he scored the only goal for Togo to seal the win.

Club career statistics

(Correct as of 7 April 2009)^[10]

Club	Season	League			Cup			Europe			Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
AS Monaco	2003–04	31	8	-	-	-	-	9	0	-	40	8	-
	2004–05	35	9	-	-	-	-	10	2	-	45	11	-
	2005–06	13	1	-	-	-	-	2	0	-	15	1	-
Total		79	18					21	2		100	20	-
Arsenal	2005–06	13	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	4	4
	2006–07	29	8	4	7	4	0	8	0	0	44	12	4
	2007–08	36	24	4	3	3	0	10	3	1	49	30	5
	2008–09	23	10	7	1	0	0	7	6	1	31	16	8
Total		101	46	19	11	7	0	24	8	2	137	62	21