Emmanuel Imorou

Emmanuel Imorou
Imorou with in 2016
Personal information
Full name Emmanuel Philippe Imorou[1]
Date of birth (1988-09-16) 16 September 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth Bourges, France
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Left-back
Youth career
2004–2005 Bourges
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 Châteauroux B
2007–2011 Châteauroux 36 (0)
2009–2010 → Gueugnon (loan) 22 (1)
2011–2012 Braga 3 (0)
2012–2014 Clermont 62 (1)
2012 Clermont B 2 (0)
2014–2019 Caen 71 (1)
2014–2019 Caen B 11 (0)
2017–2018 → Cercle Brugge (loan) 14 (0)
2019–2021 Thonon Evian 1+[a] (0+)
Total 222+ (3+)
International career‡
2010–2021 Benin 20 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:48, 16 August 2020 (UTC)

Emmanuel Philippe Imorou (born 16 September 1988) is a former professional footballer who played as a left-back. Born in France, he played for the Benin national team.

Club career

Imorou began his career in 2004 with Bourges,[2] before joining the reserve team from Châteauroux in 2005. In 2007, he was promoted to the senior side.[3] After two seasons of being rarely used, he was loaned out to the Championnat National club Gueugnon.[4][5] At Gueugnon, he played non-league games and returned to Châteauroux for the 2010–11 season. For Imorou, that season was undoubtedly the most successful. Following this, he attracted much interest from clubs in France and abroad.

In the summer of 2011, he joined Primeira Liga team Braga on an undisclosed fee on a five-year contract.[6] He was signed to fill in the gap in the full-back position left by Sílvio, who was sold to Atlético Madrid for €8 million.[7] At Braga, his playing time was hampered by injuries, as well as a lack of playing time. He managed to play five games in the whole season and was mainly used as a backup in the full-back positions to Miguel Lopes and Uwa Elderson Echiéjilé.[8] After a year with Braga, he left the club and signed for French side Clermont Foot of Ligue 2 in the summer of 2012 on a free transfer.[9][10][11][12] On 24 June 2014, he joined the newly promoted Ligue 1 side Caen, ending a two-year career as a Clermont player.[13] On 22 September 2019, Imorou signed a contract with French club Thonon Evian.[14]

International career

Imorou was born in France to Beninese parents, which grants him the right to play for the Benin national team. He was called up the national side for the very first time 2010 to be a part of the squad which would play at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

He was called up by Michel Dussuyer, who gave him his debut as a player against Mozambique during the group stage phase, where he came on as a substitute for Félicien Singbo. His nation finished third in their group behind eventual winners Egypt and Nigeria.

Since the Africa Cup of Nations, he has been called up on a regular basis to take part in qualification games and international friendlies.

He played at 2019 Africa Cup of Nations where Benin reached the quarter-finals.[15]

Career statistics

International

As of matches played on 16 August 2020[16]
Benin national team
Year Apps Goals
2010 3 0
2011 2 0
2012 1 0
2013 2 0
2014 1 0
2015 1 0
2016 0 0
2017 0 0
2018 2 0
2019 7 0
Total 19 0

Notes

  1. ^ Statistics are missing for the 2019–20 season.

References

  1. ^ "Benin" (PDF). Confederation of African Football. 15 June 2019. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  2. ^ Cintana (16 September 1988). "Emmanuel Imorou". Cintana.
  3. ^ "LFP – La fiche de Emmanuel IMOROU". Lfp.fr. Archived from the original on 13 September 2010. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
  4. ^ "Emmanuel Imorou joueur de GUEUGNON Football Club de Gueugnon". Foot-national.com.
  5. ^ "La fiche de Emmanuel Imorou. Football". L'Équipe.
  6. ^ "Emmanuel Imorou a caminho do Minho" [Emmanuel Imorou on his way to the Minho]. Record. record.xl.pt. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  7. ^ "Atlético de Madrid pagou oito milhões por Sílvio" [Atlético de Madrid paid eight million for Sílvio]. A Bola. abola.pt. 21 May 2011. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  8. ^ "Imorou está de saída cansado da frustração" [Imorou is leaving after being tired of the frustration]. Record. record.xl.pt. 24 June 2012. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  9. ^ "Imorou negoceia rescisão" [Imorou negotiating his resignation]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 23 June 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  10. ^ "Imorou está livre para partir" [Imorou is free to leave]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  11. ^ "Marco Ramos e Imorou rescindem" [Marco Ramos and Imorou resign]. Record. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014.
  12. ^ "Vinícius cedido uma época ao Moreirense" [Vinícius loaned out for one season to Moreirense]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 30 July 2012. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Emmanuel Imorou signe au SM Caen !" (in French). Stade Malherbe Caen. 24 June 2014. Archived from the original on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  14. ^ "UNE RECRUE INESPÉRÉE POUR THONON EVIAN GG FC" (in French). Évian. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Total Africa Cup of Nations Egypt 2019 | CAFOnline.com". Archived from the original on 2 July 2019.
  16. ^ Emmanuel Imorou at National-Football-Teams.com