Emmanuel Olisadebe
Footballer (born 1978)
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Emmanuel Olisadebe ⓘ (Polish pronunciation: [ɛmaˈnuɛl olisaˈdɛbɛ]; born 22 December 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Nigeria, an indigene of Ibusa in present day Delta State, he played for the Poland national team. He scored 11 international goals in 25 caps between 2000 and 2004, and participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In 2001, he won the Polish Footballer of the Year Award.[1]
|
Olisadebe with Henan Construction in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 22 December 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Warri, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1995 | Jasper United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1997 | Jasper United | 40 | (20) |
| 1997–2001 | Polonia Warsaw | 66 | (20) |
| 2001–2005 | Panathinaikos | 74 | (24) |
| 2005–2006 | Portsmouth | 2 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | Skoda Xanthi | 5 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | APOP Kinyras Peyias | 17 | (6) |
| 2008–2010 | Henan Construction | 63 | (24) |
| 2011–2012 | Veria | 9 | (1) |
| Total | 276 | (95) | |
| International career | |||
| 2000–2004 | Poland | 25 | (11) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Olisadebe began his career with Jasper United in his native Nigeria, before signing with Polish top flight club Polonia Warsaw in 1997. At Polonia, he became a first team regular, and helped the club to the Ekstraklasa title, the Polish League Cup and the Polish Super Cup. After meeting the residency requirements, Olisadebe became a Polish national in 2000 making him available for selection for the Poland national team. He was subsequently called up, and in the process became the first black player to represent Poland at senior level.[2]
After leaving Poland, he went on to play in Greece, Cyprus, England and China before retiring.
Club career
Polonia Warsaw
Olisadebe began playing for Polonia Warsaw during the 1997–98 Ekstraklasa season where in his first season he played in 13 league games.[3] During his time in the Polish capital, he helped them secure their first championship title in 50 years in the 1999–2000 season, scoring 12 goals in the process. He also won the League Cup and the Super Cup that season.
Panathinaikos
Olisadebe moved to Panathinaikos in January 2001,[4] where he scored 24 goals in 74 matches.[3] In 2004, he helped the club win the title for the first time in 7 years by scoring all the winning goals in the last three of 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.[citation needed]
Portsmouth
On 4 January 2006, he joined Portsmouth until the end of the 2005–06 season.[5] He made his debut ten days later, replacing Richard Hughes after 61 minutes of an eventual 1–0 Premier League defeat to Everton at Fratton Park.[6] A week later, he made his only other appearance for the club, playing the final 37 minutes of a 5–0 defeat at Birmingham City, this time in place of Vincent Péricard.[7]
His contract was terminated after four months, at which point he moved to Skoda Xanthi, where he played for nine matches.[8]
APOP Kinyras Peyias
Olisadebe then featured for APOP Kinyras Peyias, where he played in the 2007–08 season, making 17 appearances and scoring six goals.[3]
Henan Construction
In 2008, Olisadebe 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 two goals. In first season at Henan, he scored 12 goals in 26 league games.
On 27 September, 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 career.[9] Further results confirmed that he injured his patellar ligament and would only miss the rest of the season.[10] He was nominated for the MVP awards two years consecutively only to be 2nd in both occasions.[citation needed] Due to his performance, he was granted a Henan province citizenship by the government.[citation needed]
International career
Though Nigerian by birth, Olisadebe became a Polish citizen in 2000 and was selected by the Poland national team. He scored eight goals in ten qualification matches as coach Jerzy Engel's team reached the 2002 FIFA World Cup, their first since 1986, gaining one vote for 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year. He netted their second of three goals in a victory over Norway on 1 September which confirmed qualification.[11]
Olisadebe scored Poland's first goal of their 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign in a 3–1 victory against the United States in Daejeon in the last group match.[12] However, Poland did not progress to the second round and Olisadebe would not score again for Poland. Jerzy Engel, the national coach who brought Olisadebe into the fold, resigned following Poland’s exit from the World Cup, and, barring a handful of sporadic appearances, his resignation ended Olisadebe’s association with the national team as well.
Personal life
Olisadebe supported the "Let's Kick Racism out of the Stadiums" campaign, organised by the Polish Never Again Association.[13][14] He married a Polish woman, Beata Smolińska, in 2001 and they remained married until 2017; they parted on friendly terms.[15] Olisadebe retired from football in 2012 and eventually moved back to Nigeria. Although he admits to sometimes missing Poland, he prefers life in his original homeland of Nigeria, where he now profits from housing construction.[16]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Jasper United | 1996 | Nigeria Professional League | 32 | 17 | — | — | — | 32 | 17 | |||
| 1997 | Nigeria Professional League | 8 | 3 | — | — | — | 8 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 40 | 20 | — | — | — | 40 | 20 | |||||
| Polonia Warsaw | 1997–98[17] | Ekstraklasa | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | ||
| 1998–99[18] | Ekstraklasa | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 1 | 19 | 5 | ||
| 1999–2000[19] | Ekstraklasa | 24 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4[d] | 1 | 36 | 15 | |
| 2000–01[20] | Ekstraklasa | 13 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6[e] | 3 | 22 | 9 | |
| Total | 66 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 5 | 92 | 30 | ||
| Panathinaikos | 2000–01 | Alpha Ethniki | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | |
| 2001–02 | Alpha Ethniki | 19 | 9 | 5 | 1 | — | 10[f] | 2 | 34 | 12 | ||
| 2002–03 | Alpha Ethniki | 19 | 8 | 2 | 1 | — | 9[c] | 4 | 30 | 13 | ||
| 2003–04 | Alpha Ethniki | 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | 2[g] | 0 | 13 | 4 | ||
| 2004–05 | Alpha Ethniki | 13 | 0 | — | — | 3[f] | 1 | 16 | 1 | |||
| 2005–06 | Alpha Ethniki | 6 | 0 | — | — | 2[f] | 2 | 8 | 2 | |||
| Total | 74 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 9 | 110 | 36 | ||
| Portsmouth | 2005–06 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Skoda Xanthi | 2006–07 | Super League Greece | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| APOP Kinyras Peyias | 2007–08 | Cypriot First Division | 17 | 6 | — | — | — | 17 | 6 | |||
| Henan Construction | 2008 | Chinese Super League | 26 | 12 | — | — | — | 26 | 12 | |||
| 2009 | Chinese Super League | 18 | 10 | — | — | — | 18 | 10 | ||||
| 2010 | Chinese Super League | 19 | 2 | — | — | — | 19 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 63 | 24 | — | — | — | 63 | 24 | |||||
| Veria | 2011–12 | Football League (Greece) | 9 | 1 | — | — | — | 9 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 276 | 95 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 40 | 14 | 342 | 117 | ||
- Includes Nigerian FA Cup, Polish Cup, Greek Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
- Four appearances and three goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Cup
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- One appearance in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Cup
International
- Scores and results list Poland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Olisadebe goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 August 2000 | Stadionul Cotroceni, Bucharest, Romania |  Romania | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 2 | 2 September 2000 | Olympic Stadium, Kyiv, Ukraine |  Ukraine | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 2–1 | |||||
| 4 | 28 February 2001 | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaka, Cyprus |  Switzerland | 1–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 5 | 24 March 2001 | Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway |  Norway | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 6 | 2–0 | |||||
| 7 | 28 March 2001 | Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw, Poland |  Armenia | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 8 | 2 June 2001 | Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales |  Wales | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 9 | 1 September 2001 | Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland | Norway | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 10 | 6 October 2001 | Stadion Śląski, Chorzów, Poland | Ukraine | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 11 | 14 June 2002 | Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea |  United States | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup |
Honours
Polonia Warsaw
- Ekstraklasa: 1999–2000
- Polish Super Cup: 2000
- Polish League Cup: 1999–2000
Panathinaikos
Individual
- Polish Footballer of the Year: 2001
- Fourth-best Polish sportsman of the Year: 2002
- Nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year: 2002