Michael Essien

/ Personal Information
Full name: Michael Kojo Essien
Date of Birth: December 3, 1982 (1982-12-03) Place of birth Accra, Ghana
Height: 1.78m
Playing position: Midfielder, Defender
Current club Chelsea
2000–2003 Bastia 65 apps 11 goals 2003–2005 Lyon 71 7
2005– Chelsea 116 14
National team:
2002– Ghana 45 caps 8 goals
Michael Kojo Essien (also referred to as Mickaël Essien) is a Ghanaian footballer who currently plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League. He is an all-round midfielder who can play in many midfield roles (attacking and defending).
At Chelsea he has demonstrated his versatility by playing in many different positions – defensive midfield, central midfield, right midfield – and even in defence.
For the Ghana national football team, Essien often plays in a central midfield role, helping to defend and attack. He also has a good eye for goal and has scored important, breath-taking goals for both club and country. One of his best abilities is to hit a shot from distance.
Between the summer of 2007 and the summer of 2009, Essien was the most expensive African footballer on account of his £24.4 million move from French club Olympique Lyonnais to Chelsea FC.
He is often referred to as ‘the Bison’ for his tough tackling style, boundless energy and physical presence on the pitch.
Emmanuel Adebayor
/ Personal Information
Fullname: Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor Dateofbirth: 26 February 1984 (1984-02-26) Placeofbirth: Lomé, Togo
Height: 1.91m
Playing position: Striker
Club information
Currentclub: Manchester City
1997–1998 Sporting Club de Lomé 7 6
1999–2001 Metz B 18 apps 4 goals
2001–2003 Metz 44 15
2003–2006 Monaco 79 18
2006–2009 Arsenal 104 46
2009– Man City 14 6
National team:
2000– Togo 38 caps 16 goals
Adebayor made the surprise move to join Manchester City in July 2009, after proving himself a dangerous attacking player while with Arsenal.
Adebayor had first burst onto the scene in France in 2001-02 with FC Metz, but he really impressed the following term when scoring 13 goals. It was that form, when still aged 17, which attracted the interest of Monaco in France. But 21 goals and two-and-a-half seasons later Adebayor was on his way out of Ligue 1 bound for the English Premiership.
The striker fired Togo to the World Cup finals for the first ever time in 2006. He bagged 11 goals in qualifying, earning himself the title of Africa’s leading scorer. Adebayor is thought of as the best player to come from Togo.
In July 2009, Manchester City showed interest in Adebayor and he signed with the club for a reported fee of around £25 million on July 18th, making him Africa’s most expensive footballer!
Africa’s Most Famous Footballers
Didier Drogba
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didier_Drogba
http://www.didierdrogba.com/en/
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/PlayerProfileDetail/0,,10268~28142,00.html
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/didier-drogba.html
Salomon Kalou
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salomon_Kalou
http://www.chelseafc.com/page/PlayerProfileDetail/0,,10268~31329,00.html
http://www.salomonkalou.azplayers.com/
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/salomon-kalou.html
http://www.goal.com/en/people/c%C3%B4te-divoire/12696/salomon-kalou
Yaya Toure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaya_Tour%C3%A9
http://www.goal.com/en/people/c%C3%B4te-divoire/10877/yaya-toure
http://fc.barcelona.com/yaya_toure
http://www.fcbarcelona.cat/web/english/futbol/temporada_09-10/plantilla/jugadors/toure_yaya.html
Sulley Muntari
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulley_Muntari
http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/players/player=58730/index.html
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/sulleyali-muntari.html
Stephen Appiah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Appiah
http://www.goal.com/en/people/ghana/104/stephen-appiah
http://www.worldcupblog.org/world-football/now-stephen-appiah-has-a-day-job.html
Obafemi Martins
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obafemi_Martins
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/obafemi-martins.html
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/profile?id=25785&cc=3436
Samuel Eto’o
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Eto%27o
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/samuel-etoo.html
http://www.goal.com/en/people/cameroon/1594/etoo
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=11718&cc=3436
Steven Pienaar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Pienaar
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/steven-pienaar.html
http://www.evertonfc.com/player-profile/steven-pienaar
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=189676/index.html
Emmanuel Eboue
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Ebou%C3%A9
http://www.arsenal.com/first-team/players/emmanuel-eboue
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/emmanuel-eboue.html
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/profile?id=27874&cc=3436
Kolo Toure
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolo_Tour%C3%A9
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/kolo-toure.html
http://www.goal.com/en/people/c%C3%B4te-divoire/1167/kolo-toure
http://www.mcfc.co.uk/Players/Defenders/Kolo-Toure
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/profile?id=23601&cc=3436
How to Play Top Trumps
For the Top Trump activity children use the web links to research and then complete a Top Trump writing frame for their chosen African footballer.
The game itself can be played in a couple of ways:
Pairs:
· Divide all the completed Top Trump cards between two players.
· Player One reads a statistic “International goals 15.”
· Player Two responds with the same statistic from their card “International goals 12!”
· In this example Player One wins. They retain their own card and that of Player Two.
· Both cards go to the back of Player One’s pack.
· As Player One won that exchange he/she continues with a statistic from their next card. If Player One wins again … they continue! If Player Two wins they take control. In the event of a draw (“…12 goals” “12goals”) another statistic must be selected from the same card.
· Play continues until one player has all the cards (or who has the most after a given time).
Knockout:
· Provide each child in the class with a card.
· Children should then stand up in pairs and label themselves A and B.
· The teacher then calls A or B. This tells the children which player will choose the statistic.
· One player reads their chosen statistic to their opponent.
· The second player responds.
· The winner is through to the next round of the competition.
· The loser is eliminated and returns to their seat.
· The winning players then find a new partner and label themselves A and B.
· The game continues until one pair remains and a champion can be announced!
On the cards to following rules are applied, although you could negotiate rules with the class or encourage them to develop their own:
Date of Birth. Oldest player wins!
Height. Tallest wins!
Weight. Heaviest wins.
Position. Players listed in most positions wins. Defender/Midfield beats Defender.
Total Clubs. Fewest clubs wins.
Appearances. Most appearances wins.
Goals. Most goals wins.
National Caps. Most appearances for national team wins.
National Goals. Most goals wins.