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Emmanuel Amunike

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Emmanuel Amunike
Amunike in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1970-12-25) 25 December 1970 (age 53)
Place of birth Eziobodo, Nigeria
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1990 Concord FC 137 (25)
1990–1991 Julius Berger FC 55 (11)
1991–1994 Zamalek 71 (26)
1994–1996 Sporting CP 51 (17)
1996–2000 Barcelona 19 (1)
2000–2002 Albacete 17 (1)
2002–2003 Busan IPark 40 (5)
2003–2004 Al-Wehdat 37 (9)
2004–2006 Al Najma Club 36 (13)
Total 371 (108)
National team
1993–2001 Nigeria 27 (9)
Teams managed
2004–2008 Reocín (youth)
2008 Al Hazm (assistant)
2008–2009 Julius Berger
2009–2011 Ocean Boys
2014–2017 Nigeria U17
2017–2018 Al Khartoum
2018–2019 Tanzania
2020 Misr Lel Makkasa
2021–2022 Nigeria (assistant)
2022 Zanaco
2022–2023 Zanaco (consultant)
Honours
Representing  Nigeria
Men's football
Africa Cup of Nations
Winner 1994 Tunisia
Runner-up 2000 Ghana–Nigeria
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta
Men's football
Representing  Nigeria (as manager)
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Winner 2015 Chile
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Emmanuel Amunike (born 25 December 1970) is a Nigerian professional football manager and former professional football player who played as a winger. Blessed with electric pace and a wand of a left foot, Amuneke was also a quite prolific scorer, A strong, powerful frame and high centre of gravity lent itself to explosiveness and tenacity, while his diagonal runs off the flank made him a proper goal threat. He is widely regarded to be one of Nigeria's best wingers of all time.


Club career

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Amuneke started his career in 1987 with the Concord FC under former Super Eagles international Oscar Ezinwa, under whom he later also played at his youth academy Divine Royal International Football Academy. In his early career, Amuneke won league titles in Nigeria and Egypt. After the 1994 World Cup, he, who was still under contract with Zamalek Cairo at the time, signed a contract with MSV Duisburg and was introduced to the public. However, Amuneke did not appear in Duisburg at the start of training. Those responsible found out too late that he had already signed a contract with Sporting Lisbon. FIFA initially declared the first contract with MSV legal. But since Amuneke emphasized that he never wanted to play in Duisburg, FIFA also made a U-turn. MSV Duisburg had to sell Amuneke to Sporting Lisbon for one million dollars. There he became famous after scoring a winning goal against arch-rivals Benfica Lisbon. In 1996 he received the title of BBC African Footballer of the Year. He was poached by Spanish giants FC Barcelona for the equivalent of 3.6 million during the 1996/97 season and played the rest of the season before becoming a substitute due to injuries. Knee problems also kept him out of the 1998 World Cup. Amuneke never fully recovered and ended his career after playing one final season in Jordan in 2004.

International career

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Amunike made his international debut in 1993, He played many international games for the Nigerian National Football Team, and was part of the team that played in the 1994 World Cup in the United States and won the African Cup of Nations in 1994. Due to these two competitions he also won the Best African Player award in 1994. He also helped win the football gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, eventually scoring in the final against Argentina. Amunike was probably the most outstanding player in the US Cup and the African Cup of Nations, when he scored twice in the final that won him the African title, and in the goal that almost eliminated Italy in the second phase of the competition. A knee injury ruled him out of the World Cup in France. Without being fully recovered, even with Nigeria qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Ammunike ended his career with the Super-Eagles in 2001.

Coaching career

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Amunike coached Nigeria's under-17 football team that won the World Cup in 2015. On 6 August 2018, he was appointed coach of the Tanzania national football team. He managed to qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, but resigned from coaching the team after losing all three matches. In November 2019, he said he was looking for a new job.


Julius Berger FC Nigeria Professional Football League: 1991


Zamalek

Sporting CP

Barcelona


Nigeria

Individual

Nigeria U17

References

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  1. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Emmanuel Amunike (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  2. "CHAMPIONS CUP 1993 - FINAL". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  3. "CAF SUPER CUP 1994 - FINAL". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  4. "Sporting 2-0 Maritimo". zerozero.pt. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  5. "Histórico da Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira" [Supercup Cândido de Oliveira all-time record] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. 11 August 2012. p. 10. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  6. "Spain Cups 1996/97". RSSSF. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  7. "Cup Winners Cup 1996/1997: Final: FC Barcelona – Paris Saint-Germain 1:0: Match details". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  8. "Nigeria - Squad Africa Cup 2000 Ghana/Nigeria". Worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  9. "Amuneke takes charge of Egypt's El-Makkasa". BBC Sport.
  10. "History of BBC African Footballer of the Year". BBC Sport.