Emmanuel Amunike

Nigerian association football player and manager

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.

Emmanuel Amunike
Amunike in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1970-12-25) 25 December 1970 (age 53)
Place of birthEziobodo, Nigeria
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s)Winger
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1987–1990Concord FC137(25)
1990–1991Julius Berger FC55(11)
1991–1994Zamalek71(26)
1994–1996Sporting CP51(17)
1996–2000Barcelona19(1)
2000–2002Albacete17(1)
2002–2003Busan IPark40(5)
2003–2004Al-Wehdat37(9)
2004–2006Al Najma Club36(13)
Total371(108)
National team
1993–2001Nigeria27(9)
Teams managed
2004–2008Reocín (youth)
2008Al Hazm (assistant)
2008–2009Julius Berger
2009–2011Ocean Boys
2014–2017Nigeria U17
2017–2018Al Khartoum
2018–2019Tanzania
2020Misr Lel Makkasa
2021–2022Nigeria (assistant)
2022Zanaco
2022–2023Zanaco (consultant)
Honours
Representing  Nigeria
Men's football
Africa Cup of Nations
Winner1994 Tunisia
Runner-up2000 Ghana–Nigeria
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1996 Atlanta
Men's football
Representing  Nigeria (as manager)
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Winner2015 Chile
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only


Club career

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

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

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.


Honours

Player

Julius Berger FCNigeria Professional Football League: 1991


Zamalek

Sporting CP

Barcelona


Nigeria

Individual

  • African Footballer of the Year: 1994[9]
  • BBC African Footballer of the Year: 1996[10]

Manager

Nigeria U17

References