Emmanuel Olisadebe

Emmanuel Olisadebe (; born 22 December 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Nigeria, an indigene of Ibusa in present day Delta State, he played for the Poland national team. He scored 11 international goals in 25 caps between 2000 and 2004, and participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In 2001, he won the Polish Footballer of the Year Award.

Olisadebe began his career with Jasper United in his native Nigeria, before signing with Polish top flight club Polonia Warsaw in 1997. At Polonia, he became a first team regular, and helped the club to the Ekstraklasa title, the Polish League Cup and the Polish Super Cup. After meeting the residency requirements, Olisadebe became a Polish national in 2000 making him available for selection for the Poland national team. He was subsequently called up, and in the process became the first black player to represent Poland at senior level.

After leaving Poland, he went on to play in Greece, Cyprus, England and China before retiring.

Club career Polonia Warsaw Olisadebe began playing for Polonia Warsaw during the 1997–98 Ekstraklasa season where in his first season he played in 13 league games. During his time in the Polish capital, he helped them secure their first championship title in 50 years in the 1999–2000 season, scoring 12 goals in the process. He also won the League Cup and the Super Cup that season.

Panathinaikos Olisadebe moved to Panathinaikos in January 2001, where he scored 24 goals in 74 matches. He made his debut ten days later, replacing Richard Hughes after 61 minutes of an eventual 1–0 Premier League defeat to Everton at Fratton Park. A week later, he made his only other appearance for the club, playing the final 37 minutes of a 5–0 defeat at Birmingham City, this time in place of Vincent Péricard.

His contract was terminated after four months, at which point he moved to Skoda Xanthi, where he played for nine matches.

APOP Kinyras Peyias Olisadebe then featured for APOP Kinyras Peyias, where he played in the 2007–08 season, making 17 appearances and scoring six goals. Further results confirmed that he injured his patellar ligament and would only miss the rest of the season. He was nominated for the MVP awards two years consecutively only to be 2nd in both occasions. Due to his performance, he was granted a Henan province citizenship by the government.

International career Though Nigerian by birth, Olisadebe became a Polish citizen in 2000 and was selected by the Poland national team. He scored eight goals in ten qualification matches as coach Jerzy Engel's team reached the 2002 FIFA World Cup, their first since 1986, gaining one vote for 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year. He netted their second of three goals in a victory over Norway on 1 September which confirmed qualification.

Olisadebe scored Poland's first goal of their 2002 FIFA World Cup campaign in a 3–1 victory against the United States in Daejeon in the last group match. However, Poland did not progress to the second round and Olisadebe would not score again for Poland. Jerzy Engel, the national coach who brought Olisadebe into the fold, resigned following Poland’s exit from the World Cup, and, barring a handful of sporadic appearances, his resignation ended Olisadebe’s association with the national team as well.

Personal life Olisadebe supported the "Let's Kick Racism out of the Stadiums" campaign, organised by the Polish Never Again Association. He married a Polish woman, Beata Smolińska, in 2001 and they remained married until 2017; they parted on friendly terms. Olisadebe retired from football in 2012 and eventually moved back to Nigeria. Although he admits to sometimes missing Poland, he prefers life Nigeria, where he now works in housing construction.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Polonia Warsaw Ekstraklasa: 1999–2000 Polish Super Cup: 2000 Polish League Cup: 1999–2000

Panathinaikos Alpha Ethniki: 2003–04 Greek Cup: 2003–04

Individual Polish Footballer of the Year: 2001 Fourth-best Polish sportsman of the Year: 2002 Nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year: 2002