Emanuel Adebayor has never been the shy and retiring type. And probably the Togolese striker’s most infamous moment came in 2009, when he played his first game for Manchester City against his former club Arsenal, and he ran the entire length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the Gunner’s fans.
Adebayor now plays for Turkish side for Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir, and has given a very open interview to French magazine So Foot. They asked him what made him celebrate like that, and had a lot to say.
“The adrenaline,” Adebayor explained. “Afterwards, I got told the English FA wanted to give me a nice fine, but even if I would have had to pay €2m, considering what I went through, I would have still done it.”
“I wasn’t going to stand there, listening to five thousand people insult my family when they had nothing to do with it. During that moment, I felt like I weighed 20 kilos when I felt like I weighed 2000 kilos before the game.
“When I start to run, Wright-Phillips tries to catch me. He’s small, so a shoulder barge sends him flying. Then there was Barry, very slow: a quick juke move and he’s left behind. Around the centre circle was Kolo Touré, and he quickly realised it was better to just let me do my thing.
“When I slide on my knees, arms wide in front of the fans, I felt untouchable. People were throwing everything: phone, bottles of water. I never flinched. Everything flew past me. Pew, pew, like in the movies!”
“It was like having a sensation of being in prison for so many years and suddenly being told: ‘Brother, take the door and leave. Now, you are free’. That’s what I felt, a deliverance.”
Well, there we go. And the image of little Shawn Wright-Phillips being sent flying is hilarious.
