Personal information | |||
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Date of birth | 22 December 1978 | ||
Place of birth | Warri, Nigeria | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Playing position | Striker | ||
Club information | |||
Current club | Vyzas Megaron | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
1995–1997 | Jasper United | 40 | (20) |
1997–2001 | Polonia Warszawa | 66 | (20) |
2001–2005 | Panathinaikos | 74 | (24) |
2005–2006 | Portsmouth | 2 | (0) |
2006–2007 | → Skoda Xanthi (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2007 | APOP Kinyras Peyias | 17 | (6) |
2008–2010 | Henan Construction | 63 | (24) |
2011- | Vyzas Megaron | 1 | (1) |
National team‡ | |||
2000–2004 | Poland | 25 | (11) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 2010. † Appearances (Goals). |
Emmanuel Olisadebe (Polish pronunciation: [ɛmaˈnuɛl olisaˈdɛbɛ]) (born 22 December 1978 in Warri) is a Nigerian-born Polish football striker who plays for Greek football club Vyzas Megaron in Gamma Ethniki.
After moving to Poland and having a successful career with Polonia Warszawa where he won the championship title as well as Polish SuperCup with them he would attract the interests of the Polish national team after he was eligible for Polish citizenship. His international career would see him participate in the 2002 FIFA World Cup while his club career would see him move to Panathinaikos FC before moving around Europe.
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Olisadebe began playing for Polonia Warszawa during the 1997/98 league season where in his first season he played in 13 league games.[1] During his time in Polonia Warsaw he helped them secure their first championship title in 50 years in the 1999/00 season, scoring 12 goals in the process. He also won the league cup and the super cup that year with them.
Olisadebe made a move to for 3 million euro to Panathinaikos where he scored 24 goals in 82 matches.[1] While at Panathinakos he played a large part in helping the club win the title for the first time in 10 years by scoring all the winning goals in the last 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, although he still caught the attention of Portsmouth's manager Harry Redknapp, who was desperate for reinforcements to prevent relegation.
Olisadebe is very much loved by fans of Panathinaikos. He has a song dedicated to him. Olisadebe would have loved to play a vital role for his team but this ambition was short lived by the arrival of coach Alberto Malesani, who preferred other strikers to Olisadebe. Because of the good time Olisadebe spent in Greece he currently lives there.
Portsmouth's manager Harry Redknapp called upon Olisadebe, along with Benjani Mwaruwari, to provide the attacking force needed to stay out of the bottom three. Portsmouth signed him on a "pay as you play" deal; unfortunately Olisadebe only played two games while at Portsmouth – he was plagued by injury and scored no goals during his short spell there. His contract was terminated after 4 months, at which point he travelled to Xanthi, where he wasn't given a chance to play. Unfortunately for Olisadebe, the president of Xanthi football club, Mr Panopoulos, decided the player's services were no longer needed. Olisadebe played only a few games. It is said that Mr Panopoulos had ego problems with the player.
Olisadebe, being unhappy, decided to break his contract and travel to Cyprus in order to revive his career. He then featured for APOP Kinyras Peyia FC where he played in the 2007/08 season where he played in 17 games scoring 6 goals.[1]
In 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 2 goals and was highly praised by the Chinese sports media.
Olisadebe's first season at Henan was personally successful when he became the second top scorer in the Chinese super league with 12 goals in 26 games.
On September 27, 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.[2] Further results confirmed that he injured his patellar ligament and would only miss the rest of the season.[3] Olisadebe has had two fantastic seasons in China. He was nominated for the MVP awards two years cosecutively only to be 2nd in both occasions. Due to his performance he has been granted by the government of Henan province citizenship.
Currently Emmanuel is on trial with Vyzas Megaron after being released from Henan Construction in November 2010. Panathinaikos fans have shown their love and admiration to Emmanuel, since they have created a group on Facebook called "Emmanuel Olisadebe - -> Μανώλη Γύρνα Πίσω" (which means: "Emmanuel Olisadebe - -> Emmanuel Come Back), where they ask from Olisadebe to go back to Panathinaikos.
He is a former player of the Polish national team, who he played for after becoming a citizen of Poland after Michał Listkiewicz, the president of PZPN, and Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski were persuaded to do so by Zbigniew Boniek, a former national striker.
In 2002, Olisadebe broke the record for the greatest number of goals scored by a Polish player in a single World Cup qualifying tournament (8). For the two years prior to his World Cup debut, Olisadebe was on an incredible run, charging Poland through World Cup qualifiers. In Poland's match against Ukraine in Kiev during Poland's bid to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986 Olisadebe scored twice, leading Poland to an unexpected 3–1 victory.
Olisadebe then scored two goals the next March in Oslo against the Norwegians to secure Poland as the leader of group 5.
Olisadebe was a contender for the FIFA World Footballer of the Year 2001 receiving one point in the voting.
Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
Nigeria | League | Nigerian FA Cup | League Cup | Africa | Total | |||||||
1996 | Jasper United | 32 | 17 | |||||||||
1997 | 8 | 3 | ||||||||||
Poland | League | Polish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
1997/98 | Polonia Warsaw | Ekstraklasa | 13 | 1 | ||||||||
1998/99 | 16 | 4 | ||||||||||
1999/00 | 24 | 12 | ||||||||||
2000/01 | 13 | 3 | ||||||||||
Greece | League | Greek Football Cup | Greek League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
2000/01 | Panathinaikos | Alpha Ethniki | 8 | 4 | ||||||||
2001/02 | 18 | 9 | ||||||||||
2002/03 | 19 | 8 | ||||||||||
2003/04 | 9 | 3 | ||||||||||
2004/05 | 13 | 0 | ||||||||||
2005/06 | 6 | 0 | ||||||||||
England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
2005/06 | Portsmouth | Premier League | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
Greece | League | Greek Football Cup | Greek League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
2006/07 | Skoda Xanthi | Super League | 5 | 0 | ||||||||
Cyprus | League | Cypriot Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
2007/08 | APOP Kinyras Peyias | First Division | 17 | 6 | ||||||||
China PR | League | Chinese FA Cup | League Cup | Asia | Total | |||||||
2008 | Henan Construction | Super League | 26 | 12 | ||||||||
2009 | 18 | 10 | ||||||||||
2010 | 19 | 2 | ||||||||||
Country | Nigeria | 40 | 20 | |||||||||
Poland | 66 | 20 | ||||||||||
Greece | 78 | 24 | ||||||||||
England | 2 | 0 | ||||||||||
Cyprus | 17 | 6 | ||||||||||
China PR | 63 | 24 | ||||||||||
Total | 266 | 94 |
Poland national team | ||
---|---|---|
Year | Apps | Goals |
2000 | 5 | 3 |
2001 | 8 | 7 |
2002 | 8 | 1 |
2003 | 3 | 0 |
2004 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 25 | 11 |
# | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | August 16, 2000 | Bucharest, Romania | Romania | 1–1 (1:0) | Draw | Friendly (Debut) |
2 | September 2, 2000 | Kiev, Ukraine | Ukraine | 1:3 (1:2) | Win | World Cup Qualifier |
3 | September 2, 2000 | Kiev, Ukraine | Ukraine | 1:3 (1:2) | Win | World Cup Qualifier |
4 | February 28, 2001 | Larnaka, Cyprus | Switzerland | 0:4 (0:2) | Win | Friendly |
5 | March 24, 2001 | Oslo, Norway | Norway | 2:3 (0:2) | Win | World Cup Qualifier |
6 | March 24, 2001 | Oslo, Norway | Norway | 2:3 (0:2) | Win | World Cup Qualifier |
7 | March 28, 2001 | Warsaw, Poland | Armenia | 4:0 (2:0) | Win | World Cup Qualifier |
8 | June 2, 2001 | Cardiff, Wales | Wales | 1:2 (1:1) | Win | World Cup Qualifier |
9 | September 1, 2001 | Chorzów, Poland | Norway | 3:0 (1:0) | Win | World Cup Qualifier |
10 | October 6, 2001 | Chorzów, Poland | Ukraine | 1:1 (1:0) | Draw | World Cup Qualifier |
11 | June 14, 2002 | Daejeon, South Korea | United States | 3:1 (2:0) | Win | 2002 FIFA World Cup |
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