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8 Things You Didn’t Know About Emmanuel Eboue

8 Things You Didn’t Know About Emmanuel Eboue

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Ivorian winger Emmanuel Eboue is best known for his efforts for the Cote d’Ivoire national team along with his contributions from 2005 to 2011 at English Premier League club Arsenal.

He recently returned to the Premier League after a stint in Turkey, and will play out the rest of the current season in the English top flight.

Here are 8 things you didn’t know about Emmanuel Eboue.

Sources: Archive.Today, Wikipedia.org, EmmanuelEboueFan.net, Free-Kick.net, TheGuardian.com, Sport-Magazine.co.uk, DHNet.be, Arsenal.VitalFootball.co.uk, Mirror.co.uk, HereistheCity.com, Theguardian.com,

This is an updated version of a slideshow that was originally published Dec. 28, 2014. Peter Pedroncelli contributed to this report.

Emmanual Eboue Signs For Sunderland
Emmanual Eboue Signs For Sunderland – twitter.com/SunderlandAFC

Eboue returned to the Premier League in 2016

Eboue signed a short-term deal in March, 2016 with English Premier League club Sunderland until the end of the season. The combative midfielder was training with the team in an effort to remain fit while searching for his next professional move, but in doing so he impressed current coach Sam Allerdyce, who decided to offer him a deal. The 32-year-old previously played in the English top flight with London giants Arsenal.

Cote D'Ivoire Afcon Winners
Cote D’Ivoire Afcon Winners – imatin.net

Eboue missed out on the 2015 AFCON title

Eboue last played for the Cote D’Ivoire national team in 2013, having represented the Elephants 79 times between 2004 and 2013. This means that he missed out on winning the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) alongside his team-mates at the beginning of 2015, when the Ivorians went on a victorious tournament run which ended with a penalty shootout win against Ghana in the final.

Emmanuel Eboue
Emmanuel Eboue – footie.co.za

Eboue moved to KSK Beveren due to Belgium’s lax laws for international players

Eboue began his football career at the ASEC Mimosas youth academy, but moved to Belgian club KSK Beveren in 2002. Belgium employment laws allowed less experienced players to play football there, while other countries required non-E.U. players to have international experience. KSK Beveren, now known as KV Red Star Waasland-Beveren, is known for its impressive list of stars, as well as its development relationship with Arsenal.

cote divoire

Eboue shares the same birthday with fellow Ivorian footballer, Romaric

Romaric, an Ivorian professional footballer who spent time playing for the Cote d’Ivoire national team alongside Eboue since 2005, shares his birthday with his former team-mate. Romaric was chosen to join the Elephants at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, while Eboue was surprisingly left off of the roster.

Emmanuel Eboue
Emmanuel Eboue – teamtalk.com

When he left Arsenal, many Italian teams were after him

In 2011, Eboue’s future at Arsenal was unclear with the signing of Ivorian forward Gervinho, and he completed a move to Turkish club Galatasaray for nearly $6 million. After the fact, it was revealed that Eboue had almost ended up in Italy instead, as Florentina, Roma, and Juvenuts were all interested in signing the player.

hamstershorts.wordpress.com
Eboue loves to laugh – hamstershorts.wordpress.com

Eboue is known for being a joker

When the Elephants used to get together for training camps, Eboue has spoken about the feeling of family among the team-mates. He is considered the joker within the squad, always singing and dancing in training, and generally making his team-mates laugh while enjoying pulling pranks on others.

express.co.uk
Aurier emerged as a replacement for Eboue – express.co.uk

Eboue was left out of Cote d’Ivoire’s 2014 World Cup squad in favor of faster alternatives

While Eboue has been a fixture for the Cote d’Ivoire national team since his international debut in 2004, he was left off the 2014 World Cup roster due to “better defenders and faster alternatives at full-back.” Serge Aurier, a relative newcomer to the  Elephants squad, had an excellent season with the French club Toulouse, and the defender’s ability undoubtedly helped seal the decision to leave Eboue out of the trip to Brazil.

wikipedia.org
Eboue engages with youngsters at Primary Schools – wikipedia.org

He speaks at Primary Schools

As part of his charitable and social work, former Arsenal player Eboue speaks at Primary Schools as a representative of the outreach project, World On Our Doorstep, teaching children about immigration and diversity.