Emmanuel Adebayor was born in Loma, Togo on the 26th of February, 1984. He is on loan to Tottenham Hotspur from Manchester city and plays in the striking role. In the national team of Togo, he plays in the same position. He has played for Arsenal, Monaco and Metz. In 2008 he was nominated and won the African Footballer of the Year. He was in the bus when the Togolese national team was attacked on their way to Africa’s Nations’ Cup 2010 in Angola.

Adebayor’s professional career started at Loma in a training camp. Playing as an Under-15, he was spotted by a French Football Club, FC Metz and joined the club after a trial in 1999. For only two years he played in Under-17 level and was promoted to the senior team. He played nine times and scored two goals in his first year. But his club was however relegated. He played 35 games and bagged in 17 goals in the 2002-03 seasons and attracted lots of admiration of top clubs in Europe especially Arsenal and Juventus.

Nevertheless, he was signed by AS Monaco. He played 17 games and scored seven goals and also helped them qualify for the UEFA Champions League the same season, playing ten games and scoring two goals.

Adebayor signed a contract with Arsenal for an unclosed fee though it was rumored to be within 7 million pounds on the 13th of January, 2006. He chose the number 25 on his shirt because it was previously worn by Nwankwo Kanu. In his interview he disclosed that he chose the number because he adored the Nigerian superstar as a young player. He also put on the number 4 jersey in his National team just like Nwankwo Kanu. There is a strange physical resemblance the two player share.

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Adebayor made his first appearance for Arsenal in a match between Birmingham City and Arsenal and scored in the 21st minute. Arsenal then won 2-0. His total goals for the season for Arsenal were 4 goals after playing 10 games. Nevertheless, he missed the finals of the UEFA Champions League between his club and Barcelona FC.

Adebayor became an integral part for Arsenal club after their skipper Thierry Henry was injured. He scored the winning goal for Arsenal against their rivals Manchester United and that win gave them their first league cup. He continued to endear himself to the Arsenal fans day by day.

Scoring twice against Fulham on 19th of January, the whole fans chorused, “Adebayor, O Adebayor, give him the ball and he’ll score”. After scoring two goals for his club against Tottenham Hotspur he helped his team win their first derby of the season.

Though Adebayor was entitled to play for Nigeria, however, he decided to play for Togo, the country of his birth. Adebayor helped his country to qualify for FIFA World Cup in 2006 at Germany scoring 11 goals just in the qualification series more than every other player. He was nominated twice for the African Footballer of the Year.