Emmanuel Amuneke

Infobox Football biography
playername= Emmanuel Amuneke


fullname = Emmanuel Amuneke
height = heigh|m=1.76
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1970|12|25
cityofbirth = Eze Obodo
countryofbirth = Nigeria
current club = Retired
clubnumber =
position = Left winger
years = ?
1991
1991-1994
1994-1997
1997-2000
2000-2002
2003
2003-2004
clubs = Concord FC
Julius Berger
El Zamalek
Sporting Lisboa
Barcelona
Albacete
Busan I'cons
Al-Wihdat
caps(goals) = ? (?)
? (?)
71 (26)
51 (17)
19 (1)
17 (1)
? (?)
22 (0)
nationalyears = 1993–2001
nationalteam = Nigeria
nationalcaps(goals) = ? (?)
date=last update February 26, 2007
pcupdate = 15:23, 26 february 2007 (UTC)
ntupdate = February 26, 2007

Emmanuel Amuneke (born December 25, 1970 in Eze Obodo), commonly known as Emmanuel Amunike, is a former football forward from Nigeria. He played more than 30 international matches for Nigeria, scoring at least seven goals. [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/events/1998/worldcup/teams/nigeria/player_profiles.html CNN/SI from CNN and Sports Illustrated - World Cup '98 - Nigeria ] ] and was part of the team that participated at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and won the 1994 African Nations Cup. He won the 1994 African Footballer of the Year award, for his performances at both tournaments. He was also part of the Nigeria Olympic gold medal winning team at the Atlanta 96 football event, scoring in the final against Argentina.

In his early career Amuneke won the domestic league titles in Nigeria and Egypt, while playing for Julius Berger and Al-Zamalek respectively. In 1994 he signed for Sporting Clube de Portugal and won over the fans by scoring the winning goal against the derby rivals SL Benfica. He was bought by the Spanish giants Barcelona for $3.6 million during the 1996/97 season, but was only able to play out the rest of his first season at the club, spending most of the next three years sidelined with injuries. Knee problems also kept him out of the France 98 FIFA World Cup. Amuneke never fully recovered and retired after playing one final season in Jordan. A small wide attacking player who more than made up for his size by his ability to cut into the box to score.

On Spanish television he now appears in an advert that jokes about his own lack of success at Barcelona. He plays the role of an entrepreneur setting up a business selling his football skills video. The advert for his video says "watch his best move over and over again", following which there are repeated clips of him about to take a throw-in. The advert then announces a free gift, a "Dance with Amuneke" video, in which we see him dancing, without great expertise, in a disco.

Emmanuel's younger brothers Kingsley and Kevin are also professional footballers. Contrary to popular belief, his name is Amuneke, not Amunike.

*1990 Concord FC
*1991 Julius Berger
*1991/92 Al-Zamalek
*1992/93 Zamalek (24/9)
*1993/94 Zamalek
*1994/95 Sporting (20/7)
*1995/96 Sporting (23/7)
*1996/97 Sporting (8/3)
*1996/97 FC Barcelona (19/1)
*1997/98 Barcelona (0/0)
*1998/99 Barcelona (0/0)
*1999/00 Barcelona (0/0)
*2000/01 Albacete Balompié (11/1)
*2001/02 Albacete (6/0)
*2003 Busan I'cons
*2003/04 Al-Wihdat

External references

* [http://www.nigerianplayers.com/player.asp?pID=191 Nigerian Players]

References