Emmanuel Eboué

Infobox Football biography
playername = Emmanuel Eboué


fullname = Emmanuel Eboué
height = height|m=1.78
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|6|4
cityofbirth = Abidjan
countryofbirth = Côte d'Ivoire
currentclub = Arsenal
clubnumber = 27
position = Right winger, Right back, Defensive midfielder
youthyears = 2000-2001
youthclubs = ASEC Mimosas
years = 2001-2002
2002-2005
2005-
clubs = ASEC Mimosas
Beveren
Arsenal
caps(goals) = 25 (3)
70 (4)
72 (1)
nationalyears = 2004-
nationalteam = Côte d'Ivoire
nationalcaps(goals) = 23 (0)
pcupdate = 14:08, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 30 October 2007

Emmanuel Eboué (born June 4 1983 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) is an Ivorian football player who currently plays for Arsenal. He has spent most of his career to date playing as a right fullback, but has recently been used as a winger on either flank and as a central midfielder.

Playing career

ASEC Mimosas

Eboué was a graduate of Jean-Marc Guillou's football academy in Abidjan which was attached to ASEC Mimosas. He moved with a large number of the graduates to K.S.K. Beveren in September 2002. The Belgium employment law allowed less experienced players to play football there, while other countries required non-EU players to have international experience.

KSK Beveren

Eboué played for three seasons at Beveren which had a joint relationship with Arsenal to develop players. In December 2004, he and Marco Né were given a trial at Highbury. As a result he was signed by Arsenal on January 1, 2005, on a four-year contract for a fee of £1.54 million. The move allowed him to join fellow Ivory Coast international Kolo Touré at Highbury.

Arsenal

Eboué's debut came only days after signing from Beveren, in the FA Cup against Stoke City. Although he was not initially a first team regular, making just one FA Premier League appearance, as a substitute, in 2004–05, Eboué was regularly in Arsenal's reserve team that season.

In 2005–06 Eboué made his break into the Arsenal side. He started the season mainly as a reserve player, though he scored his first goal for Arsenal in the club's 3–0 League Cup third round victory at Sunderland, on October 25, 2005. Despite leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January 2006 he was immediately sent into action on his return; he made his first career Premiership start at right back against Liverpool at Anfield, replacing the injured Lauren. With Lauren injured for the rest of the season, Eboué held his place for the remainder of Arsenal's 2005–06 campaign.

Eboué's run in the Arsenal side included matches in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase against Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal. Impressed with the way the Ivorian adapted to the increased pace of the Premiership and pressure of the Champions League, Arséne Wenger even compared Eboué to the legendary Brazilian winger Garrincha after an energetic performance in the April 1 2006 game against Aston Villa. [cite web | url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=363588 | title=Fabregas, Eboue injury worries for Gunners | work=ESPN.com|accessmonthday = April 30 | accessyear=2006]

Eboué continued in the starting line-up for Arsenal in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final at the Stade de France. He performed solidly, but attracted criticism (including a public denouncement from Wenger) for his dive on the edge of the Barcelona penalty area under an innocuous challenge, as he sought to counter-attack — with Arsenal having been reduced to 10 men by the sending-off of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. The resulting free-kick ended up in an Arsenal opening goal, scored by team-mate Sol Campbell. The Londoners' luck did not hold out and Barcelona scored twice through Samuel Eto'o and later Juliano Belletti in the last fifteen minutes to win the game 2–1.

Eboué started the 2006–07, and was awarded the Arsenal Player of the Month award for September. However, he was injured in an international and spent the whole of the month of October out with injury. He made his first team return as a substitute in the 1–0 defeat by West Ham United on November 5, and started the League Cup win over Everton later that same week. He scored his second Arsenal goal in their 3–1 Champions League victory over Hamburger SV on November 21 2006. Persistent ankle problems have plagued him throughout December 2006 and January 2007. He attempted to make many comebacks, mostly against high profile teams such as Liverpool, in the FA 3rd Round and Manchester United, but he was unable to come through them unscathed. Wenger decided to wait until there was no chance that there would be a recurrence of the injury, and he came off the bench for Armand Traore in the League Cup Final. He made his mark in this for all the wrong reasons, striking Chelsea defender Wayne Bridge in the fight caused by John Obi Mikel and Kolo Touré and aggravated by Frank Lampard and Cesc Fàbregas. Although the referee and his assistants missed the incident, he was banned for three matches by the FA. He started the match against Blackburn in the FA cup 5th Round Replay, only for his ankle to get injured again from a studs-up challenge from Blackburn winger Morten Gamst Pedersen, which the referee also missed.

In May 2007, Eboue signed a new "long-term" contract with Arsenal.

From the start of the 2007–08 season, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stated his intention to move Eboué into a role on the right wing, following the signing of Bacary Sagna.

On September 20 2008, Eboué scored his first Premier League goal, his third goal for Arsenal, against Bolton in an away match, which Arsenal won 3–1.

International career

Eboué earned his first full cap for Ivory Coast against Sudan in September 2004. In early 2006 he played in the African Cup of Nations as the country's right-back, as they eventually lost in the final to hosts Egypt.

Eboué was selected for the Ivory Coast squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He played the full 270 minutes of his nation's campaign; 2–1 defeats by Argentina and the Netherlands followed by a 3–2 victory over Serbia and Montenegro, resulting in group stage elimination.

Personal life

Eboué married his Belgian girlfriend before he joined Arsenal.

Arsenal career statistics

:"(correct as of 1 October 2008)" [ [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=27874&cc=4716] ] (* FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield)

Honours

International

*African Cup of Nations: runner-up 2006

Arsenal
*Winner
**Amsterdam Tournament: 2007, 2008
**Emirates Cup: 2007

*Runner-up
**UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2006
**League Cup: 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/players/emmanuel-eboue Arsenal.com profile]
* [http://www.4thegame.com/club/arsenal-fc/player-profile/30203/emmanueleboue.html 4thegame.com profile]
* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/site/players/index.php?dumpPlayer=6887 footballdatabase.com profile]
*soccerbase|40634
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=10426 sporting-heroes.net profile]

Persondata
NAME= Eboué, Emmanuel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Eboué, Emmanuel
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1983-06-04
PLACE OF BIRTH= Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=