Emmanuel Amuneke

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Personal information
Emmanuel Amuneke
Full name	Emmanuel Amuneke
Date of birth	December 25, 1970 (1970-12-25) (age 37)
Place of birth	Eze Obodo, Nigeria
Height	1.76 m
Playing position	Left Winger
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
? 1991 1991-1994 1994-1997 1997-2000 2000-2002 2003 2003-2004	Concord FC Julius Berger El Zamalek Sporting Lisboa Barcelona Albacete Busan I'cons Al-Wihdat	? (?) ? (?) 71 (26) 51 (17) 19 (1) 17 (1) ? (?) 22 (0)
National team²
1993–2001	Nigeria	? (?)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:23, 26 february 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of February 26, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Competitor for Nigeria
Olympic medal record
Men's Football
Gold	1996 Atlanta	Team Competition

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.^[1] 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

[edit] External references

Nigerian Players

v • d • e Nigeria squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup

1 Rufai • 2 Eguavoen • 3 Iroha • 4 Keshi • 5 Okechukwu • 6 Nwanu • 7 George • 8 Oliha • 9 Yekini • 10 Okocha • 11 Amuneke • 12 Siasia • 13 Ezeugo • 14 Amokachi • 15 Oliseh • 16 Agu • 17 Ikpeba • 18 Ekoku • 19 Emenalo • 20 Okafor • 21 Adepoju • 22 Agbonavbare • Coach: Westerhof

Awards
Preceded by Rashidi Yekini	African Footballer of the Year 1994	Succeeded by George Weah
Preceded by ?	BBC African Footballer of the Year 1997	Succeeded by ?