Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (born 26 February 1984) is
professional
footballer born in
Togo to Nigerian parents of the Yoruba ethnic group. He plays for
English Premier League team
Manchester City and the
Togo national team as a
striker. Adebayor previously played for
FC Metz,
AS Monaco and ,
and was voted
African
Footballer of the Year for 2008.
Club career
Early career
Adebayor
began his career in his homeland playing for Sporting Club de
Lomé
.
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 second team.
In his first season, 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
Champions League final with
two goals in 10 games.
Arsenal
On 13 January, 2006, Adebayor signed for
Arsenal for a reported
£3m. He was given the nickname
"Baby
Kanu" due to his resemblance to former Arsenal star
Nwankwo Kanu, who Adebayor had idolised as a
youth. 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

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 £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
semifinal 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. Although
Arsenal finished the season empty handed, he was named in the PFA
Team of the Year. 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, but later insisted to stay at the club
after he signed a long contract. 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. Adebayor
received his first red card of the season in a 1–1 draw with
Liverpool after an altercation with opposing defender
Álvaro Arbeloa; this was his second
bookable offence of the game and therefore served a one-match ban.
On 8 February, Adebayor suffered a hamstring injury in Arsenal's
0–0 draw against Tottenham Hotspur. The injury would keep him out
for almost two months, despite initial estimations suggesting only
a three week absence. He made a goalscoring return to action,
scoring a brace on his return against
Manchester City. On 7 April 2009, Adebayor
equalized a goal for Arsenal in the Quarter finals of the Champions
League against
Villarreal, 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. However, Adebayor was injured for
the last two Premier League games and finished the season as
Arsenal's second top goal scorer, scoring 16, behind
Robin van Persie's 20 in all
competitions.
Manchester City
On 18 July 2009, Adebayor signed a five-year contract with
Manchester City, for a transfer fee
believed to be in the region of £25 million.
He scored a goal on
his debut for City against Blackburn Rovers
, smashing a shot from 18 yards past Paul Robinson in the third
minute. On his home debut, Adebayor scored the only goal in
the 17th minute in a 1–0 in over
Wolverhampton Wanderers,
assisted by fellow summer signing
Carlos Tévez.He scored in his third
consecutive league match, heading the winner in a 1–0 away victory
against
Portsmouth.
He then scored in his
fourth consecutive match, this time against his former team,
Arsenal in a 4–2 victory at the
City of
Manchester Stadium
. In the match against Arsenal, Adebayor's
former team mate
Van Persie accused him
of deliberately kicking him in the face, and he was later handed a
three-match ban after being found guilty of violent conduct.
Adebayor was also criticized for running almost the full length of
the pitch to the Arsenal supporters and celebrating in front of
them after scoring his goal causing an attempted pitch invasion and
objects to be thrown towards him on the pitch. He was booked for
this, but did later apologize. Manchester City manager
Mark Hughes suggested Adebayor did it because he
wanted to be loved by Manchester City fans.
International career

Adebayor playing for Togo.
Born in Togo, Adebayor was also eligible to play for
Nigeria but chose to
represent the country of his birth. Adebayor helped Togo qualify
for the
2006 African Cup of
Nations by scoring 11 goals in the qualifiers, more than any
other player in the African qualifiers. On 10 February 2009, the
Confederation of African Football (CAF) picked 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.
Togo were eliminated after losing all three matches. He was dropped
by Togo following the row over bonus payments. However, Adebayor
was brought back into the Togo team in September 2007.On 11 October
2008, he scored four 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 12 September 2009)
| Club |
Season |
League |
Cup |
Europe |
Total |
| 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 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
48 |
30 |
5 |
| 2008–09 |
27 |
10 |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
6 |
1 |
38 |
16 |
8 |
| Total |
105 |
46 |
19 |
12 |
7 |
0 |
26 |
9 |
2 |
143 |
62 |
21 |
| Manchester City |
2009–10 |
7 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
- |
8 |
4 |
2 |
| Total |
7 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
4 |
2 |
Honours
- AS Monaco
- Arsenal
Individual
References
-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/6679813.stm
- Arsenal-Mania.com - The Arsenal website for Arsenal
fans - Emmanuel Adebayor Profile
- Adebayor, give him a ball, and he will score
video
- Adebayor scores against former club Retrieved
on September 12 2009
-
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/van-persie-reaction-to-adebayor-incident
- Adebayor handed three-match ban
- [1]
- The list of Nigeria qualified players who, for various
reasons, preferred to play for foreign countries is endless. Among
them are Emmanuel Olisadebe, Ugo Ehiogu, Gabriel Agbonlahor,
Patrick Owomoyela, Ugochukwu Onyewu, Chuka Okaka and Emmanuel
Adebayor. ngrguardiannews, April 12, 2009
- Adebayor future with Togo unclear
- Togo 1 Cameroon 0: Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor back
on target
- History, soccernet.espn.go.com, accessed 14
September 2008.
- Shéyi Emmanuel Adebayor - Official
Facebook
External links