EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR - TOGO

Date of birth: Feb. 26, 1984
Birthplace: Mome, Togo
Club: Arsenal (England)
Position: Forward
International debut: June 2004 vs. Zambia

Emmanuel Adebayor is the future of African soccer.

The 21-year-old striker from Togo, who plays in the English Premiership with Arsenal, scored 11 goals to finish as top scorer in the African qualifying round ahead of such established stars as Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, the Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba and Obafemi Martins of Nigeria.

Adebayor is a terror for opposing defenders to deal with, blessed with lightning pace and sublime dribbling skills. He also possesses a natural goal-scorer's instinct.

The young Togolese joined French club FC Metz in 1999 and played with the team's youth squad before making his senior side debut in 2001. He was limited to only 10 appearances that season, but he had a breakout campaign the following year when he scored 17 goals.

Several top European teams, including Italian giants Juventus and Arsenal, came calling for the young African but it was French club AS Monaco that signed him away from Metz. Adebayor responded by bagging seven goals in 17 games in his first season while helping Monaco reach the finals of the 2004 Champions League.

Adebayor followed that up with another nine goals in 2004-05 before he was dealt by Monaco to Arsenal in January 2006 in a seven-million pound ($14.4-million Cdn) transfer deal. Adebayor has been limited to substitute appearances thus far in England, but he has impressed Arsenal fans with his speed and commitment on the field

Despite being his country's only real star player, Adebayor is a divisive figure inside the Togo camp. During the recent African Nations Cup, Adebayor vowed to leave the tournament and go home after he was used a substitute in the first game. He ended up staying with the team, but got into an argument with coach Stephen Keshi after the tournament.

Shortly after, Togo soccer officials backed Adebayor and fired Keshi. That didn't sit well with several players, who tried unsuccessfully to get Keshi's job back and have Adebayor kicked off the team.

Adebayor made his debut for Arsenal six days after the Nations Cup and scored in his first game for the English club. Now he's looking ahead to score in his World Cup debut in Germany and win back the respect of his teammates.