Adebayor Makes U-Turn For Togo

•Adebayor in action for Togo

Adebayor

Reports from Togo say Emmanuel Adebayor has rescinded his decision not to play for his country’s senior national team again.

The Togo Football Federation, TFF, disclosed that the officials  have resolved their differences with the country’s superstar, Adebyaor who will now play at next year’s African Cup of Nations slated for 2013 in South Africa.

Adebayor

The Tottenham striker resigned early this month in a row with the federation over unpaid bonuses following a recent friendly match against Morocco.

The Hawks were about to lose their talisman for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

But the FTF President, Gabriel Ameyi revealed that the two parties have settled the dispute.

“The Togolese Federation remains committed to him, and do not worry, he will be right there with us at the CAN,” Ameyi said.

“Adebayor is a great man and a great player. We respect each other,” the FTF chief said.

Togo have been drawn in the ‘Group of Death’ to face Ivory Coast, Algeria and Tunisia in Durban during the Nations Cup.

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Adebayor was also eligible to play for Nigeria but chose to represent the country of his birth. Adebayor helped Togo qualify for the 2006 African Cup of Nations, scoring 11 goals in the qualifiers, more than any other player in the African qualifiers. On 10 February 2009, the Confederation of African Football, CAF picked Adebayor as the African Footballer of the Year for 2008, at an awards ceremony held in Lagos, Nigeria. Adebayor beat final nominees Mohamed Aboutrika of Egypt and Ghana’s Michael Essien in a vote that involved the national team coaches of CAF’s 54 member-nations. It was the first time a Togolese won the award as Africa’s best player.

Adebayor also helped Togo to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and started all three group matches against South Korea, Switzerland and France, but did not score any goal and Togo ended up in the last place. Adebayor was made team captain after the finals.

Back in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, he was a substitute for the country’s first match, following a row with the coach. Adebayor first vowed to leave the tournament and return home, although he later resumed training with the side.

He was dropped by Togo following the row over bonus payments. However, Adebayor was brought back into the Togolese team in September 2007.

On 11 October 2008, he scored four goals in Togo’s 6–0 hammering of Swaziland during the World Cup qualification rounds.

Despite being injured, Adebayor played for Togo against Cameroon; he scored the only goal for Togo to seal the win.

On 8 January 2010, Adebayor was one of the players involved when the Togo national team’s bus came under a gunfire attack on the way to the African Cup of Nations in Angola. The fatal attack, in which all the players survived but three other people were killed, led to Togo withdrawing from the tournament. Adebayor consequently announced his retirement from international football on 12 April 2010 in a statement which read, “I have weighed up my feelings in the weeks and months since the attack and I am still haunted by the events which I witnessed on that horrible afternoon on the Togo team bus. We were just footballers going to play a football match and represent our country, yet we were attacked by people who wanted to kill us all. It is a moment I will never forget and one I never want to experience again”.

Adebeyor subsequently returned to international duty in November 2011 following assurances from the Togo Football Federation regarding safety, making his comeback in a 1–0 win over Guinea-Bissau in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

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