Emmanuel Olisadebe (Polish pronunciation: [ɛmaˈnuɛl olisaˈdɛbɛ]; born 22 December 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Nigeria, he played for the Poland national team. He scored 11 international goals in 25 caps between 2000 and 2004, and participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
 Olisadebe with Henan Construction in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 22 December 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Warri, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1995 | Jasper United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1997 | Jasper United | 40 | (20) |
| 1997–2001 | Polonia Warsaw | 66 | (20) |
| 2001–2005 | Panathinaikos | 74 | (24) |
| 2005–2006 | Portsmouth | 2 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Skoda Xanthi | 9 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | APOP Kinyras Peyias | 17 | (6) |
| 2008–2010 | Henan Construction | 63 | (24) |
| 2011–2012 | Veria | 9 | (1) |
| Total | 276 | (95) | |
| International career | |||
| 2000–2004 | Poland | 25 | (11) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Olisadebe began his career with Jasper United in his native Nigeria, before signing with Polish top flight club Polonia Warsaw in 1997. At Polonia he became a first team regular, and helped the club to the Ekstraklasa title, and Ekstraklasa Cup and Polish SuperCup. After meeting the residency requirements, Olisadebe became a Polish national in 2000 making him available for selection for the Poland national football team. He was subsequently called up to the national team and in the process become the first black player to represent Poland.[1]
After leaving Polonia he went on to play in Greece, Cyprus, England and China before retiring.
Club career
editPolonia Warsaw
editOlisadebe began playing for Polonia Warsaw during the 1997–98 Ekstraklasa season where in his first season he played in 13 league games.[2] During his time in the Polish capital he helped them secure their first championship title in 50 years in the 1999–2000 season, scoring 12 goals in the process. He also won the League Cup and the Super Cup that season.
Panathinaikos
editOlisadebe moved to Panathinaikos where he scored 24 goals in 74 matches.[2] In 2004, he helped the club win the title for the first time in 7 years by scoring all the winning goals in the last three of four games of the championship. He also won the cup that year, making it a double. However, during his time at Panathinaikos he suffered an injury that required surgery in Greece.[citation needed]
Portsmouth
editOn 4 January 2006, he joined Portsmouth until the end of the 2005–06 season.[3] He made his debut ten days later, replacing Richard Hughes after 61 minutes of an eventual 1–0 Premier League defeat to Everton at Fratton Park.[4] A week later he made his only other appearance for the club, playing the final 37 minutes of a 5–0 defeat at Birmingham City, this time in place of Vincent Péricard.[5]
His contract was terminated after four months, at which point he moved to Skoda Xanthi, where he played for nine matches.[6]
APOP Kinyras Peyias
editHe then featured for APOP Kinyras Peyia FC where he played in the 2007–08 season where he played in 17 games scoring 6 goals.[2]
Henan Construction
editIn 2008, he was offered a deal with Chinese Super League club Henan Construction. In his second match with Henan, the third round of 2008 Chinese Super League against Liaoning, he scored two goals. In first season at Henan he scored 12 goals in 26 games in the Chinese super league.
On 27 September, Olisadebe scored the opening goal for Henan in a 2–0 win over Shanghai Shenhua to regain lead in the league less than ten minutes before injuring his knee. Initial diagnosis showed that he had torn his cruciate ligament of the left knee, and the injury could end his entire football career.[7] Further results confirmed that he injured his patellar ligament and would only miss the rest of the season.[8] He was nominated for the MVP awards two years consecutively only to be 2nd in both occasions.[citation needed] Due to his performance he has been granted by the government of Henan province citizenship.[citation needed]
International career
editThough Nigerian by birth, Olisadebe became a Polish citizen in 2000 and was selected by the Poland national team. He scored eight goals in ten qualification matches as coach Jerzy Engel's team reached the 2002 FIFA World Cup, their first since 1986, gaining one vote for 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year. He netted their second of three goals in a victory over Norway on 1 September which confirmed qualification.[9]
Olisadebe scored Poland's first goal of their 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign in a 3–1 victory against the United States in Daejeon in the last group match.[10] However, Poland did not progress to the second round and Olisadebe would not score again for Poland. Jerzy Engel, the national coach who brought Olisadebe into the fold, resigned following Poland’s exit from the World Cup, and barring a handful of sporadic appearances that resignation ended Olisadebe’s association with the national team as well.
Personal life
editOlisadebe supported the "Let’s Kick Racism out of the Stadiums" campaign, organised by the Polish Never Again Association.[11][12] He married a Polish woman, Beata Smolińska, in 2001 and they remained married until 2017; they parted on friendly terms.[13] Olisadebe retired from football in 2012 and eventually moved back to Nigeria. Although he admits to sometimes missing Poland, he prefers life in his original homeland of Nigeria, where he now profits from housing construction.[14]
Career statistics
editClub
edit| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Jasper United | 1996 | Nigeria Professional League | 12 | 17 | – | – | – | 12 | 17 | |||
| 1997 | Nigeria Professional League | 8 | 3 | – | – | – | 8 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 40 | 20 | – | – | – | 40 | 20 | |||||
| Polonia Warsaw | 1997–98[15] | Ekstraklasa | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 1 | ||
| 1998–99[16] | Ekstraklasa | 16 | 4 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 19 | 5 | |||
| 1999–2000[17] | Ekstraklasa | 24 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 38 | 16 | |
| 2000–01[18] | Ekstraklasa | 13 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 22 | 9 | |
| Total | 66 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 6 | 94 | 31 | ||
| Panathinaikos | 2000–01 | Alpha Ethniki | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 11 | 4 | |
| 2001–02 | Alpha Ethniki | 19 | 9 | 5 | 1 | – | 10 | 2 | 34 | 12 | ||
| 2002–03 | Alpha Ethniki | 19 | 8 | 2 | 1 | – | 9 | 4 | 30 | 13 | ||
| 2003–04 | Alpha Ethniki | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | 2 | 0 | 13 | 4 | ||
| 2004–05 | Alpha Ethniki | 13 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 1 | 16 | 1 | |||
| 2005–06 | Alpha Ethniki | 6 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 2 | 8 | 2 | |||
| Total | 74 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 9 | 112 | 36 | ||
| Portsmouth | 2005–06 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 2 | 0 | |||
| Skoda Xanthi | 2006–07 | Super League Greece | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| APOP Kinyras Peyias | 2007–08 | Cypriot First Division | 17 | 6 | – | – | – | 17 | 6 | |||
| Henan Construction | 2008 | Chinese Super League | 26 | 12 | – | – | – | 26 | 12 | |||
| 2009 | Chinese Super League | 18 | 10 | – | – | – | 18 | 10 | ||||
| 2010 | Chinese Super League | 19 | 2 | – | – | – | 19 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 63 | 24 | – | – | – | 63 | 24 | |||||
| Veria | 2011–12 | Football League (Greece) | 9 | 1 | – | – | – | 9 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 276 | 95 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 45 | 13 | 344 | 116 | ||
- ^ Includes Nigerian FA Cup, Greek Cup, FA Cup, Cypriot Cup, Chinese FA Cup
- ^ Includes League Cup, Football League Cup
International
edit| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland | 2000 | 5 | 3 |
| 2001 | 8 | 7 | |
| 2002 | 8 | 1 | |
| 2003 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 11 | |
- Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Olisadebe goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 August 2000 | Stadionul Cotroceni, Bucharest, Romania |  Romania |
1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 2 September 2000 | Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine |  Ukraine |
1–0 | 3–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 2–1 | |||||
| 4 | 28 February 2001 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaka, Cyprus |  Switzerland |
1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 5 | 24 March 2001 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway |  Norway |
1–0 | 3–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 2–0 | |||||
| 7 | 28 March 2001 | Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland |  Armenia |
2–0 | 4–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 8 | 2 June 2001 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales |  Wales |
1–1 | 2–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 1 September 2001 | Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland | Norway |
2–0 | 3–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 10 | 6 October 2001 | Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland | Ukraine |
1–0 | 1–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 11 | 14 June 2002 | Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea |  United States |
1–0 | 3–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup |
Honours
edit- Polonia Warsaw
- Ekstraklasa: 1999–2000
- Polish Super Cup: 2000
- Polish League Cup: 1999–2000
- Panathinaikos
Individual
- Polish Footballer of the Year: 2001
- Fourth-best Polish sportsman of the Year: 2002
- Nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year: 2002
References
edit- ^ Mason, Tom (16 November 2016). "Emmanuel Olisadebe: the immigrant who enriched a footballing nation". thesefootballtimes.co. These Football Times. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d Emmanuel Olisadebe at National-Football-Teams.com
- ^ "Portsmouth seal Olisadebe swoop". bbc.co.uk. 4 January 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ^ "Portsmouth 0-1 Everton". BBC Sport. 14 January 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ "Birmingham 5-0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 21 January 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ "Εμμάνουλ Ολισαντέμπε".
- ^ "奥贝初步诊断十字韧带断裂 赛季报销恐将提前退役". sina.com.cn. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
- ^ "奥贝确诊髌腱韧带脱落 缺席本赛季不危及职业生涯". sina.com.cn. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
- ^ "The strange case of Emmanuel Olisadebe". When Saturday Comes. 13 July 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ "American dream lives on". BBC Sport. 14 June 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
- ^ "AGAINST RACISM IN THE STADIUMS". "NEVER AGAIN" ASSOCIATION. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ "Portrait de footballeur polonais : Olisadebe, un précurseur venu d'Afrique". Le Monde.fr (in French). 10 June 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ "Emmanuel Olisadebe - kiedyś był gwiazdą reprezentacji Polski, teraz słuch o nim zaginął". sport.onet.pl. Onet.pl. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ Olisadebe, Emmanuel (4 November 2020). "Drugie życie Emmanuela Olisadebe. Żyje z mieszkań, nigdzie mu się nie spieszy. "Nie jestem zbyt ambitny"". WP Sportowe Fakty (Interview). Interviewed by Piotr Koźmiński. Wirtualna Polska. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ "Sezon 1997/98". 90minut.pl/. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Sezon 1998/99". 90minut.pl/. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Sezon 1999/00". 90minut.pl/. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "2000/01". 90minut.pl/. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ a b "United States 1-3 Poland". European Football. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
External links
edit- Player profile for the 2002 World Cup at BBC Sport
- Emmanuel Olisadebe at 90minut.pl (in Polish)
- Player profile at Sodasoccer.com (Chinese) at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 March 2012)
- Player stats at Sohu.com (Chinese)