Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Nigeria
Men's Football
Gold	1996 Atlanta	Team Competition

Emmanuel Amuneke (born December 25, 1970 in Eziobodo), commonly known as Emmanuel Amunike, is a former football Winger from Nigeria. He played more than 30 international matches for Nigeria, scoring at least seven goals.^[1] and was part of the team that participated at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and won the 1994 African Nations Cup. He won the 1994 African Footballer of the Year award, for his performances at both tournaments. He was also part of the Nigeria Olympic gold medal winning team at the Atlanta 96 football event, scoring the winning goal in the final against Argentina.

In his early career Amuneke won the domestic league titles in Nigeria and Egypt, while playing for Julius Berger F.C. and Al-Zamalek respectively. In 1994 he signed for Sporting Clube de Portugal and won over the fans by scoring the winning goal against the derby rivals S.L. Benfica. He was bought by the Spanish giants FC Barcelona for $3.6 million during the 1996/97 season, but was only able to play out the rest of his first season at the club, spending most of the next three years sidelined with injuries. Knee problems also kept him out of the France 98 FIFA World Cup. Amuneke never fully recovered and retired after playing one final season in Jordan. A small wide attacking player who more than made up for his size by his ability to cut into the box to score.

On Spanish television he now appears in an advert that jokes about his own lack of success at Barcelona. He plays the role of an entrepreneur setting up a business selling his football skills video. The advert for his video says "watch his best move over and over again", following which there are repeated clips of him about to take a throw-in. The advert then announces a free gift, a "Dance with Amuneke" video, in which we see him dancing, without great expertise, in a disco.

[edit] Coaching career

Amuneke spent some time in 2008 as an assistant coach at the Saudi Premier League side Al-Hazm, but quit the club to become a scout for Manchester United. On December 28, 2008, he took over the head coaching duties at Julius Berger, after completing two years of coaching courses in Europe. For a while, Amuneke had combined his position at Manchester United with his coaching duties in Nigeria, but eventually quit his position in England to concentrate on his coaching career. He was sacked halfway through his first season with the club after conflicts with management despite saving the team from relegation. The team however later claimed he was sacked for "over gross insubordination”. He was hired in Novembe 2009 as the new coach of Ocean Boys F.C.^[2]

[edit] Family

Emmanuel's younger brothers Kingsley and Kevin are also professional footballers. Contrary to popular belief, his name is Amuneke, not Amunike.

• 1990 Concord FC
• 1991 Julius Berger
• 1991/92 Al-Zamalek
• 1992/93 Zamalek (24/9)
• 1993/94 Zamalek
• 1994/95 Sporting (20/7)
• 1995/96 Sporting (23/7)
• 1996/97 Sporting (8/3)
• 1996/97 FC Barcelona (19/1)
• 1997/98 Barcelona (0/0)
• 1998/99 Barcelona (0/0)
• 1999/00 Barcelona (0/0)
• 2000/01 Albacete Balompié (11/1)
• 2001/02 Albacete (6/0)
• 2003/04 Al-Wihdat

[edit] External references

• Nigerian Players
• Amuneke Bags Berger Job-AllAfrica.com
• Why I left Berger (The Punch)

v • d • e Nigeria squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup 1 Rufai • 2 Eguavoen • 3 Iroha • 4 Keshi • 5 Okechukwu • 6 Nwanu • 7 George • 8 Oliha • 9 Yekini • 10 Okocha • 11 Amuneke • 12 Siasia • 13 Ezeugo • 14 Amokachi • 15 Oliseh • 16 Agu • 17 Ikpeba • 18 Ekoku • 19 Emenalo • 20 Okafor • 21 Adepoju • 22 Agbonavbare • Coach: Westerhof

v • d • e Nigeria squad – 1996 Olympic Gold Medalists 1 E. Babayaro • 2 C. Babayaro • 3 West • 4 Kanu • 5 Uche • 6 Amuneke • 7 Babangida • 8 Oruma • 9 Fatusi • 10 Okocha • 11 Ikpeba • 12 Obafemi • 13 Lawal • 14 Amokachi • 15 Oliseh • 16 Obiekwu • 17 Oparaku • 18 Joseph • Coach: Bonfrere

[edit] References