Manu Sunu

Manu Sunu

Personal information
Full name	Emmanuel Sunu Songo'o
Date of birth	17 March 1966 (1966-03-17) (age 45)
Place of birth	Bé, Lomé, Togo
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Retired
Youth career
1983–1988	ASKO Kara
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1988–1992	ASKO Kara	154	(10)
1992–2000	Gomido	200	(51)
Total		354	(61)
National team‡
1991–1998	Togo	28	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 January 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 December 2010

Emmanuel "Manu" Sunu Songo'o (born 17 March 1966 in Bé, Lomé, Togo), is a former Togolese professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for ASKO Kara and Gomido and internationally for Togo.^[1]

Career

Sunu was born in the neighbourhood of Bé in the Togolese capital Lomé in March 1966 to parents of mixed Nigerian and Cameroonian decent. Due to an injury sustained at the age of 34, Manu enjoyed a relatively short, but albeit successful playing career spanning just under twelve years.

Making his début for ASKO Kara aged 22 in 1988, he went on to make 154 appearances for them, scoring 10 goals. He transferred to Gomido in 1992 and played out the rest of his career there, scoring 51 times in 200 matches and earning recognition from two noteworthy European sides: French team OGC Nice and Portuguese Liga club Rio Ave. Unfortunately with Togolese football being in its infancy at the time Nice made their offer (Rio Ave eventually dropped their interest), the Togolese government blocked any possible transfer for Sunu that would see him move away from his homeland. The countries sports minister was against Sunu, considered Togo's best footballer at the time, moving to Europe - or indeed anywhere else - feeling that the development of football in Togo would suffer as a result. In essence, he was adverse to the idea of the nation losing their prize asset and sporting role model to a club based in a European country, where the game was substantially more developed.

With his move to France blocked, Sunu continued playing for Gomido until he broke his right leg in three places during a league match against AC Merlan on June 18, 2000, aged 34. He immediately announced his retirement from football after surgeons told him that even once his leg had healed, it would be unlikely that the fragile bones could ever take the strain of him participating in a football match again.

Family

His son, Gilles, was born in Châteauroux, France, in late March 1991. Manu, his wife Patricia (born 1967) and their two other children, son Idriss (born 1986) and daughter Ibertine (born 1988), were holidaying in the city when Patricia went into labour. The family returned home to Togo after Gilles was born but later sent him back to Châteauroux to live with an uncle when he turned five in 1996. He subsequently joined the city's local team, LB Châteauroux, and was signed by Arsenal in 2007 before moving to FC Lorient in August of 2011. After retiring, Sunu moved to Lille with his wife, but now resides in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.

International career

Manu was a full international for his country and a regular member of the Togo national football team during the 90s. He won 28 caps in seven years, scoring twice in unofficial friendly matches versus the Southern Cameroons (a 1–11 away win) and Burkina Faso (a 2–6 home loss).

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01.	16 April 1995	Stade de Moliko, Buéa, Cameroon	Southern Cameroons	1 – 9	1 – 11	Unofficial friendly
02.	3 April 1997	Stade Municipal, Kpalimé, Togo	Burkina Faso	2 – 5	2 – 6	Unofficial friendly

References

1. ^ "Arsenal sign teenager Sunu". The Daily Telegraph. 22 March 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2309636/Transfers-Arsenal-sign-teenager-Sunu.html. Retrieved 3 March 2011. 

Persondata
Name	Sunu, Manu
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 March 1966
Place of birth	Bé, Lomé, Togo
Date of death
Place of death