Emmanuel Eboué

Emmanuel Eboué (born 4 June 1983) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a right back.

Formed at ASEC Mimosas, he moved to Europe to play for Belgium's Beveren in 2002.

In 2002, Eboué moved to ASEC's Belgian parent club KSK Beveren and spent three seasons there.

His impressive performances in Belgium caught the eye of Arsenal's scouts.

Eboué's debut came only days after signing from Beveren, in the FA Cup against Stoke City.

Eboué made his international debut for the Ivory Coast in 2004, eventually earning 79 caps by 2013.

He was part of their squads at five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and two World Cups.

Born in Abidjan, Eboué began his football career in the ASEC Mimosas youth academy.

Although he was not initially a first team regular, making just one FA Premier League appearance, as a substitute, in 2004–05, Eboué was regularly in Arsenal's reserve team.

He did however contribute three appearances to Arsenal's victorious 2004–05 FA Cup campaign.

He spent most of his career, from 2005 to 2011, with Arsenal of the Premier League, playing 214 games, including the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.

Later he moved to Galatasaray, where he played regularly and won five domestic honours in Turkey.

In 2005–06, Eboué made his breakthrough into the Arsenal side.

He started the season mainly as a reserve player, though he scored his first goal for Arsenal in the club's 3–0 League Cup third round victory at Sunderland on 25 October 2005.

With Lauren injured for the rest of the season, Eboué unexpectedly held his place for the remainder of Arsenal's 2005–06 campaign.

Eboué's run in the Arsenal side included matches in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase against Real Madrid, Juventus, and Villarreal.

Despite leaving for the African Cup of Nations in January 2006, he was immediately sent into action on his return; he made his first career Premiership start at right back against Liverpool at Anfield, replacing the injured Lauren.

Impressed with the way the Ivorian adapted to the increased pace of the Premiership and pressure of the Champions League, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger even compared Eboué to the legendary Brazilian winger Garrincha after an energetic performance in the 1 April 2006 game against Aston Villa.

Eboué continued in the starting line-up for Arsenal in the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final at the Stade de France.

Eboué started the 2006–07 season, and was named the Arsenal Player of the Month for September.

However, he was injured in an international and spent the whole of the month of October out with injury.

He made his first team return as a substitute in the 1–0 defeat by West Ham United on 5 November, and started the League Cup win over Everton later that same week.

He scored his second Arsenal goal in their 3–1 Champions League victory over Hamburg on 21 November 2006.

Persistent ankle problems have plagued him throughout December 2006 and January 2007.

He attempted to make many comebacks, mostly against high-profile teams such as Liverpool, in the FA Cup third Round and Manchester United, but he was unable to come through them unscathed.

Wenger decided to wait until there was no chance that there would be a recurrence of the injury.

He came off the bench for Armand Traoré in the League Cup final against Chelsea.

He started the match against Blackburn Rovers in the FA cup 5th Round Replay, only for his ankle to get injured again from a studs-up challenge from Blackburn winger Morten Gamst Pedersen, which the referee also missed.

In May 2007, Eboué signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.

From the start of the 2007–08 season, Arsène Wenger stated his intention to move Eboué into a role on the right wing, following the signing of Bacary Sagna.

On 20 September 2008, Eboué scored his first Premier League goal against Bolton Wanderers in an away match, which Arsenal won 3–1.

During the 2008–09 season, he was frequently criticised by Arsenal fans after some less-than-satisfactory performances.

In December 2008 against Wigan Athletic at the Emirates, Eboué played particularly poorly after being brought on as a substitute.

He made many unforced errors to the point where a small section of Arsenal fans began to boo him.

Eboué continued to lose possession and in the second half, Eboué tackled his own player and gifted possession to Wigan.

He was subsequently substituted.

This dramatic dip in form also coincided with other problems in the team, notably the absence of teammate Theo Walcott (who also played regularly on the right wing) through injury.

Further appearances were confined to playing as a wing-forward or right back.

On 8 March 2009, he scored the third goal against Burnley in the FA Cup fifth round match.

On 14 March, he scored two goals (one a penalty) in the Gunners' 4–0 hammering of Blackburn Rovers.