Post by reddevil on Feb 11, 2010 16:49:53 GMT
Emmanuel Adebayor will dedicate the remainder of his career to honouring the memory of those killed in the Togo team bus attack.
The Manchester City striker and his international colleagues were en route to the African Cup of Nations in Angola when their convoy was ambushed in Cabinda.
Three people died in the atrocity which Adebayor feared would also claim his life, and although he escaped physically unscathed, the deep mental scars remain.
"After Angola I'm just happy to be on a football pitch," said the former Arsenal star.
Coffin
"When it happened on January 8, a Friday, around 2pm, I told myself that I may never be on a football pitch again, that I might never score goals any more. But God took a hand.
"Some people passed away, and you have to be playing for them now. Every time you put the shirt on, you have to be scoring for them. You have to enjoy it.
"I could have been buried somewhere. I love scoring goals, but whenever I do now, I say 'yes, you are scoring goals - you could be in a coffin now, you could be in Paradise, I don't know'. It's very hard."
Adebayor is now back in action with City after a break with his family and has found the net in each of his last three outings as Roberto Mancini's men target a top-four finish.
The Eastlands outfit bounced back from their shock defeat away to Hull City with a 2-0 home success over Bolton which leaves them level on points with Liverpool, but holding two games in hand on the Reds.
Dangerous
Next on the agenda for the Blues is Saturday's home FA Cup encounter with Stoke, which is swiftly followed by a league trip to the Britannia Stadium and then what promises to be an enthralling Eastlands meeting with Liverpool.
Adebayor is well aware that the Achilles heel for City this season has been their form on the road, and is keen to address that issue in the remainder of the season.
"The most important thing is to keep trying to win games," Adebayor added. "I think we are doing it well and we have a lot of good players.
"After what happened at Hull, it was very important for us to beat Bolton so I'm very happy.
"At home we are playing quite well, but we have to focus on our game away from home and work on that. If we do, we can be dangerous for any team in this league."
The Manchester City striker and his international colleagues were en route to the African Cup of Nations in Angola when their convoy was ambushed in Cabinda.
Three people died in the atrocity which Adebayor feared would also claim his life, and although he escaped physically unscathed, the deep mental scars remain.
"After Angola I'm just happy to be on a football pitch," said the former Arsenal star.
Coffin
"When it happened on January 8, a Friday, around 2pm, I told myself that I may never be on a football pitch again, that I might never score goals any more. But God took a hand.
"Some people passed away, and you have to be playing for them now. Every time you put the shirt on, you have to be scoring for them. You have to enjoy it.
"I could have been buried somewhere. I love scoring goals, but whenever I do now, I say 'yes, you are scoring goals - you could be in a coffin now, you could be in Paradise, I don't know'. It's very hard."
Adebayor is now back in action with City after a break with his family and has found the net in each of his last three outings as Roberto Mancini's men target a top-four finish.
The Eastlands outfit bounced back from their shock defeat away to Hull City with a 2-0 home success over Bolton which leaves them level on points with Liverpool, but holding two games in hand on the Reds.
Dangerous
Next on the agenda for the Blues is Saturday's home FA Cup encounter with Stoke, which is swiftly followed by a league trip to the Britannia Stadium and then what promises to be an enthralling Eastlands meeting with Liverpool.
Adebayor is well aware that the Achilles heel for City this season has been their form on the road, and is keen to address that issue in the remainder of the season.
"The most important thing is to keep trying to win games," Adebayor added. "I think we are doing it well and we have a lot of good players.
"After what happened at Hull, it was very important for us to beat Bolton so I'm very happy.
"At home we are playing quite well, but we have to focus on our game away from home and work on that. If we do, we can be dangerous for any team in this league."