On Tuesday (March 21), former Togo international footballer Emmanuel Adebayor announced his retirement from football at the age of 39.
Adebayor, who had played for both Arsenal and Manchester City, made the announcement in a characteristically charismatic way, by posting a video on his Instagram account in which he signed a piece of paper with the message “Thanks for the blessings!!!”.
The video then showed a controversial Premier League goal in which Adebayor scored for Manchester City against Arsenal and celebrated in front of the Gunners’ fans, whom he had once played for.
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The caption of Adebayor’s farewell video read, “SEA, from the highs to the lows, my career as a professional athlete has been an incredible journey. Thank you to my fans for being there every step of the way. I’m feeling so grateful for everything, and excited for what’s to come! 🙌🏾”
The video can be watched below.
Adebayor was named African Footballer of the Year in 2008 while playing for Arsenal. Later in his career, when he joined Olimpia Asunción in 2020, he became the highest paid player in Paraguay.
Adebayor played for Togo in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, marking the country’s first and only appearance in the World Cup to date.
In January 2010, he was involved in an incident where the Togo team’s bus was attacked while en route to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.
Following this, he retired from national team duty. However, in 2013, he returned to the Togo team for the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa and helped them to qualify for the quarter-finals.
He is currently Togo’s all-time leading scorer with 32 goals.
Teams Played
Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor, the Togolese former professional footballer who played as a striker previously played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, as well as French side Metz, Monégasque team Monaco, Spanish team Real Madrid, Turkish clubs İstanbul Başakşehir and Kayserispor, Paraguay’s Club Olimpia and Togolese club Semassi.
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