Adebayor
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Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (born 26 February 1984) is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester City in the Premier League. He played in the same position for the Togo national team before he announced his retirement from international football on 12 April 2010. Adebayor previously played for Metz, AS Monaco and Arsenal, and was voted African Footballer of the Year for 2008. In January 2010, Adebayor was one of the players involved when the Togo national team's bus came under a gunfire attack on the way to the African Cup of Nations in Angola.
Born in Togo to Nigerian parents of the Yoruba ethnic group, he began his career in his homeland playing for Sporting Club de Lomé. He made it to the U-15 level, and was spotted by French club Metz. After a trial, Adebayor joined the club in 1999 and played at the U-17 level for two years before joining the second team.
In his first season, he played nine games and scored twice. In the 2002–03 season, Adebayor scored 17 goals in 35 games. He signed a new contract with Monaco in 2003, and he scored seven goals in 17 appearances, helping them reach the Champions League final with two goals in 10 games.
On 13 January 2006, Adebayor signed for Arsenal for a reported £3m. He was given the nickname "Baby Kanu" due to his resemblance to former Arsenal star Nwankwo Kanu, whom Adebayor had idolised as a youth. On 4 February 2006, Adebayor made his Arsenal debut in a Premiership match at Birmingham City and scored after 21 minutes, with Arsenal winning 2–0. At the end of his first season for the Gunners he had scored four goals in ten matches. However, Adebayor was cup-tied for Arsenal's 2005–06 Champions League campaign as they reached the final against Barcelona, having appeared for Monaco in the qualifying rounds of the competition.
Adebayor scored Arsenal's winning goal against Manchester United to give Arsenal a 1–0 win at Old Trafford, their first league win of the 2006–07 season. Earlier in the game, Adebayor was brought down in the six-yard box to earn Arsenal a penalty, which was taken by Gilberto Silva and saved. On 8 November 2006, Adebayor scored the only goal of the match to send Arsenal into the quarterfinals of the League Cup against Everton
He was sent off in Arsenal's 2–1 Carling Cup final loss to Chelsea. He was shown the red card after a fracas towards the end of the match involving both Chelsea and Arsenal players. It was alleged that he had thrown a punch at Frank Lampard. The FA subsequently gave him an additional one-match ban and a fine of £7,500 for failing to leave the field of play immediately, as well as a three-match ban for the red card. Adebayor and Lampard both denied it.
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