Mammon has reached its zenith. Who is Zenit newcomer Emanuel Mammana? Career after Spartak

At the age of six, little Emanuel lost his mother, and in 2011, when he was 15, the talented pupil of the River Plate Academy was left without a father. Against the backdrop of such mental trauma, the child could lose interest in everything, including football, for a long time. Perhaps the world would not have known about a football player named Mammana if it were not for his character and strong support from relatives, girlfriends and friends. Well, he dedicates his successes on the field only to his parents.

Mammana progressed at a crazy pace. Together with the current Zenit striker Sebastian Driussi looked great in the River Plate youth team. In 2013, he won the South American U17 Championship with the Argentina national team, one of the top scorers of which, by the way, was Driussi. In the same year, the Argentines and Emanuel reached the semi-finals of the World Championship of this age.

The River Plate defender impressed Argentina's first team head coach Alejandro Sabella so much that he invited Mammana to train with the national team at the 2014 World Cup training camp. Moreover, before the friendly match with Slovenia, defenders were injured Ezequiel Garay and Martin Demichelis, so Sabella decided to use Mammana in this game. Emanuel came on as a substitute in the 77th minute Javier Mascherano, eventually becoming the second player in the history of the Argentine national team to play for the national team before playing for the club at a professional level. The first such unique person was another River Plate footballer named... Mascherano. An incredible coincidence! It is not surprising that Mammana was nicknamed “Mascherano’s heir”, especially since they are united by another fact: both, in terms of their physical characteristics, are not at all similar to the classic central defender.

“To come on as a substitute instead of Mascherano is something amazing,” Mammana shared his emotions in an interview. – Even getting one minute or just taking a place on the bench in the Argentina national team was a big event for me. Today my dream of playing together with Leo Messi has come true.”

The footballer discussed in this article played in Russia for only two years, but was remembered as one of the best strikers in the history of our championship. Emenike Emmanuel scored 21 goals in 42 matches for Spartak Moscow, which is quite good by Russian Premier League standards.

The powerful, assertive forward from Nigeria fell in love with the red-and-white fans, at least for his first goal for Spartak in the Moscow derby against CSKA, when Emenike scored five minutes after coming on as a substitute. How did this football player end up in Russia and where is he now?

First steps in football

Emmanuel Chinenye Emenike was born on May 10, 1987 in Otuocha, Nigeria. In his first club, Delta Force, the football player was not paid a salary, and he walked to training - an hour and a half round trip.

Emenike began to receive his first money in South Africa in the Black Aces team, which at that time played in the second strongest division of South Africa. Emenike signed a contract with the new club in January 2008, and scored his first goal in his debut match against Dynamo in February. Emenike's salary at the Black Aces was 350 euros.

In May of the same year, the Nigerian footballer moved to Cape Town, where he scored 14 goals over the next season and got the opportunity to show himself in Europe.

Moving to Turkey

Emenike's path in Europe began with the Turkish First League (the second strongest division). In 2009, the footballer was rented by Karabükspor. The loan turns out to be very successful for the Turkish club: Emenike scored 16 goals in 28 meetings during the season, which helped Karabükspor get into the Super League. The Turkish club signed the striker who became the best foreign player in the league on a permanent basis.

The 2010/11 season was even more successful for Emenike, because now Emmanuel was scoring goals in the strongest division in Turkey. He did not break last year's goal mark of 16, scoring 14, but this time he took part in fewer matches - twenty-three.

In May 2011, the Nigerian forward won a lawsuit against a local newspaper. The Haber Turk newspaper published an article that said the Nigerian forward was hiding his age, and in fact he is seven years older. In the same year, the striker received his first call-up to the first national team of Nigeria. Currently, the player has 37 matches and 9 goals for the national team.

At the end of the 2010/11 season, Emmanuel moved to Fenerbahce, one of the leading clubs in Turkey, which became the champion that year.

Scandal in the Turkish Super League and the arrest of Emenike

Emenike's debut for Fenerbahce took place only two years later. The fact is that soon after the Nigerian signed a contract with the new club, information appeared that the “yellow canaries” could be deprived of the championship and sent to the First League for participating in match-fixing. Emenike Emmanuel decided not to wait for the outcome of the proceedings and hastened to declare his intention to leave the club. He wanted to leave, however, not so much the club as the country, because in Turkey he was facing a prison sentence. The Nigerian came under suspicion because in the championship match between his former club and Fenerbahçe, Emenike, being completely healthy, did not take the field, although he was the top scorer of his team. The football player even spent four days in prison. As a result of the investigation, the Nigerian striker was formally charged, but by that time Emenike had already moved to Russia to Spartak Moscow.

"Spartak Moscow)

Spartak had been watching Emmanuel for a long time, and the club’s management acted quickly, ahead of Rubin Kazan and Atletico Madrid in the fight for the player. In August 2011, three months after moving to Fenerbahce, the Nigerian striker signed a contract with Spartak. The transaction amount was about nine million euros.

Emenike scored his first goal for the red and white in the Moscow derby against CSKA. On the 70th minute, five minutes after coming on as a substitute, it was Emenike Emmanuel who equalized the match. “Spartak” played a draw in that meeting - 2:2. Emenike spent 2011 at a high level, scoring 8 goals in 11 meetings.

Emenike did not achieve any team achievements at Spartak, but he repeated Nikita Simonyan’s record: the Nigerian striker managed to score five goals against Lokomotiv in two matches of one season. And in the first round of the 2012/13 season, Emenike scored one of the goals in the history of the Russian championship, hitting the Alania goal already in the tenth second.

There were also scandals associated with Emenike. On May 6, 2012, the Nigerian striker scored a goal against Zenit and celebrated the goal by hitting his right forearm with his left hand, for which he unexpectedly received a red card. “I just wanted to copy Samuel Eto’o’s gesture of gratitude to the ancestors,” Emenike Emmanuel explained his celebration of the goal. The footballer eventually missed the next match, although the Ethics Committee did not find anything offensive in the Nigerian’s actions.

Career after Spartak

In August 2013, Emenike returned to Fenerbahce. According to the footballer, he always dreamed of playing for Fenerbahce and was very excited about the transition. This time there were no incidents, and the striker finally made his debut for the Istanbul team.

After returning, Emmanuel stayed at Fenerbahçe for two years, during which he managed to play 55 matches and score 16 goals. Then in the summer of 2015 he was loaned to the UAE club Al Ain.

In a year and a half in the Emirates, the striker scored 7 goals in 11 meetings, after which a new loan followed. The footballer went back to Europe. Now Emenike plays on loan in the English West Ham. As of March 2016, the Hammers are fighting for a place in the top four, which gives them the right to qualify for the Champions League, and the Nigerian forward is gradually getting used to his new championship.

I flew to St. Petersburg, where on Monday I must undergo a medical examination before signing a contract with the blue-white-blues. According to French media reports, the transfer of the 21-year-old Argentinean will cost the Russian club about 15 million euros.

TERRIBLE CHILDHOOD

Mammana born on February 10, 1996 in the city of Merlo, a suburb of Buenos Aires. At the age of six he lost his mother. The family took the tragedy seriously. It seemed that the worst was over when 8-year-old Emanuel was noticed and invited to the academy by scouts." River Plate".

However, at the age of 15 he lost his father. One can only guess what it cost the guy to cope with such an early death of his parents. Another could easily break. But the remaining relatives, teammates, and then the girl who appeared did not allow Mammane quit football. Moreover, he did not stop progressing. And to this day he dedicates every success to his mom and dad.

KING AMONG YOUTH

Showing maturity beyond his years in defense, Emanuel has rightfully become a key player in the youth team. Argentina national team. As part of the national team, he came third at the South American U15 Championship, and then won the same tournament for U17 players. Even more attention to your person Mammana attracted him with his performance at the Youth World Championships in the UAE in 2013. The Argentines reached the semi-finals, and scouts of European clubs noted in their reports the excellent choice of position, confidence and tenacity of the young star from " River Plate".

IN " Rivera“The victories were also in order: again in 2013, he won the U-17 Club World Championship, which was held in Madrid. It is interesting that the top scorer of the tournament and the author of the winning goal in the final with “ Atlético" became… Sebastian Driussi. Now old friends will play together again. But for red and white Buenos Aires, and for blue, white and blue St. Petersburg.

NASTY AS MASCHERANO

The successes of the young defender were so impressive that already in 2014 he received a call to the first team. Shortly before the World Cup, due to injuries, the team could not be helped in friendly matches Demichelis And Garay. Head coach for the vacant position Alejandro Sabella invited the young man Mammanu. And he even put him on the field in the meeting with Slovenia. 15 minutes before the end, Emanuel came on as a substitute. Mascherano.

It's a paradox, but by that time Mammana hasn't made his debut yet" River Plate"! Before him, this happened only once. In 2003. With a young Mascherano.

"RIVER" DISENCHANTED

Debut for the first team" Rivera" happened in 2014. Everything worked out for Mammans more than successful. The coaching staff gradually entrusted the defender with more and more playing time, first in the matches of the Argentine Cup, then the national championship, and then he was released to start in the second final match of the Copa Sudamericana (analogous to the Europa League). " River"took a draw with the Colombian" Atlético Nacional" 1:1 and won the trophy on aggregate. For the legendary club, this was the first international success in 17 years.

Further more. At the South American U20 Championship in 2015 Mammana was already the undisputed leader of the Argentines. In company again with Driussi they became the winners of this tournament. In the final stage, Argentina left no chance for their opponents. In particular, I didn’t miss it from the Brazilians.

"LYON" AS A TRANSIT STOP

A full-fledged starter in " Rivera" Mammana it was only a year. But numerous regalia at the national team level did their job: last summer, offers from Europe poured in one after another. There was particular interest from Italy. The defender was wooed in " Napoli" And " Milan"There were rumors about" Atlético" And " Tottenham". But in the end the guy ended up in " Lyon"The French paid 7.5 million euros for it.

And now, after just a year, the club is preparing to sell the player for twice as much. A successful investment!

Moreover, not everything worked out for him in France. In the national championship, the defender appeared on the field in only 17 rounds.

“I want to quickly learn French and integrate into a new culture,” he said Mammana immediately after the transfer. But in practice, problems apparently arose. Moreover, the injuries piled up. In fact, he started playing regularly only after the new year. And I didn’t have time to truly become one of my own. Perhaps because" Lyon“and I’m ready to part with him now, while they offer good money and while the contract has four years to expire.

WHY IS IT SO GOOD

Mammanu called a model of “defender of the future.” His trump cards are not only the traditional skills of defensive players in choosing a position, tenacity in tackling, selfless tackles, but also a very decent technique that allows him not only to carry the ball out of his zone, but also to launch attacks, thereby replacing the functions of a point guard. At the same time, he insures his partners who have run forward, meeting the opponent like a breakwater.

Mammana He doesn’t have enormous height, he’s not a “jock.” But he reads the game amazingly clearly. It is for this quality that the Argentine is included among the most promising defenders in the world. And the fact that such a player is not going anywhere, but to " Zenith", proves once again: they really are building a top team in St. Petersburg. Perhaps even on a larger scale than in Halke With Witsel.