As Nigeria prepares to take on the USA in a friendly match to prepare for the World Cup finals, one player Nigeria will be looking up to for scoring goals is Emmanuel Emenike.
Emmanuel Emenike is a striker who plays for Fenerbahce. He was born on 10 May 1987 in Otuocha, Nigeria.
Emenike started his professional football career in 2007 when he signed for Delta Force. After a one-year spell at the club he completed a move to Black Aces in 2008. He made 7 appearances and scored 3 goals for Black Aces before joining Cape Town for the 2008/09 season. He was in the reserve squad, though he sometimes played for the first team, coming on field as a substitute. Emenike appeared in 16 matches and netted one goal during the 2008/09 season at Cape Town.
In 2009, Emenike caught the eye of Karabükspor. The club signed a three-year contract with the striker and he became an essential part of the team. From 2009 to 2011 he made 51 appearances and clinched 30 goals. That was probably the most successful season in his playing career. In 2011, Emmanuel moved to Fenerbahçe but immediately switched to Spartak Moscow for a fee of €10 million. During two years at Spartak Emmanuel made a total of 42 appearances and scored 21 goals.
In the summer 2013 he moved back to his former Turkish club. Emenike is a part of the Nigeria national team. He netted his first goal in the friendly match against Argentina on 1 June 2011.
Powered by forwards Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses, Nigeria won its first African Cup title in nearly two decades last year. The next step is to achieve something at the World Cup.
Emenike was one of the African Cup’s top scorers.
The difference between Nigeria with and without Emmanuel Emenike is clear. In the latter stages of last year’s African cup, the Super Eagles powered past Cote d’ivoire 2-1 and Mali 4-1 in the semi-finals with him, and then sorely missed the injured striker in a tense 1-0 win over Burkina Faso in the final.
The 27-year-old Fenerbahce of Turkey forward continued his good form with crucial goals in Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying campaign, scoring twice in Ethiopia for a 2-1 win in the playoffs. For his club side, Fernerbahce of Turkey, he bagged 12 league goals making him their Number one poacher.
Nigeria has had glory days in years past. Within those periods we had great poachers most notably the late Rashidi Yekini. With the most anticipated competition in 2014 coming up, nobody knows better than Emenike that the stakes are currently high for him to power Nigeria to glory in Brazil.
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This article was first published on 7th June 2014
obimartins
Martins Okafor is a Sports Writer for Connect Nigeria. He has been a sport buff for years, following stories and development in leagues and international competitions. His interest led him to writing stories – reporting on sporting events. He has superior interest in soccer, but knows much about other sports. He plans to have a blog and to advance in sport journalism. You can email him at: obimartins85 [at] gmail.com
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As Nigeria prepares to take on the USA in a friendly match to prepare for the World Cup finals, one player Nigeria will be looking up to for scoring goals is Emmanuel Emenike.
Emmanuel Emenike is a striker who plays for Fenerbahce. He was born on 10 May 1987 in Otuocha, Nigeria.
Emenike started his professional football career in 2007 when he signed for Delta Force. After a one-year spell at the club he completed a move to Black Aces in 2008. He made 7 appearances and scored 3 goals for Black Aces before joining Cape Town for the 2008/09 season. He was in the reserve squad, though he sometimes played for the first team, coming on field as a substitute. Emenike appeared in 16 matches and netted one goal during the 2008/09 season at Cape Town.
In 2009, Emenike caught the eye of Karabükspor. The club signed a three-year contract with the striker and he became an essential part of the team. From 2009 to 2011 he made 51 appearances and clinched 30 goals. That was probably the most successful season in his playing career. In 2011, Emmanuel moved to Fenerbahçe but immediately switched to Spartak Moscow for a fee of €10 million. During two years at Spartak Emmanuel made a total of 42 appearances and scored 21 goals.
In the summer 2013 he moved back to his former Turkish club. Emenike is a part of the Nigeria national team. He netted his first goal in the friendly match against Argentina on 1 June 2011.
Powered by forwards Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses, Nigeria won its first African Cup title in nearly two decades last year. The next step is to achieve something at the World Cup.
Emenike was one of the African Cup’s top scorers.
The difference between Nigeria with and without Emmanuel Emenike is clear. In the latter stages of last year’s African cup, the Super Eagles powered past Cote d’ivoire 2-1 and Mali 4-1 in the semi-finals with him, and then sorely missed the injured striker in a tense 1-0 win over Burkina Faso in the final.
The 27-year-old Fenerbahce of Turkey forward continued his good form with crucial goals in Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying campaign, scoring twice in Ethiopia for a 2-1 win in the playoffs. For his club side, Fernerbahce of Turkey, he bagged 12 league goals making him their Number one poacher.
Nigeria has had glory days in years past. Within those periods we had great poachers most notably the late Rashidi Yekini. With the most anticipated competition in 2014 coming up, nobody knows better than Emenike that the stakes are currently high for him to power Nigeria to glory in Brazil.
