Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (born 2 December 1990), known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

as Badu ( ), is a Ghanaian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He has earned 78 caps for the Ghana national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Berekum Berekum, nicknamed "The Golden City", is a city and the capital of Berekum East Municipal in the Bono Region of Ghana. The city has a population of 62,364 as of 2012. The native language of the Berekum people is the Bono Twi. As of 2020 ...

Bono Region The Bono region is one of the 16 administrative regions of Ghana. It is as a result of the remainder of Brong-Ahafo region when Bono East region and Ahafo Region, Ahafo region were created. Sunyani, also known as the green city of Ghana, is the r ...

, Badu began his career at a local club Berlin F.C. before later signing for

Berekum Arsenal Berekum Arsenal Football Club is a Ghanaian football club based in Berekum in the Bono region of Ghana, about 30 minutes drive west from Sunyani. Founded in 1995, They are currently members of the Division One League. CAF Cup In 2006, the c ...

. Badu was announced in the

Ghana Premier League The Ghana Premier League is the top professional association football league in Ghana organized by the Ghana Football Association and formed in 1958 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition which ran from 1933 ...

All Star TeamOnoneTouch Premier League – shownewsstory
onetouch.com.gh (

). 21 May 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2011. on 21 May 2007. On 11 July 2008, Badu left Berekum Arsenal, signing a one-year loan contract with

Asante Kotoko Asante Kotoko Sporting Club, simply known as Asante Kotoko, is a professional sports, professional association football, football club founded on 31 August 1935 and based in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Nicknamed the ''African crested ...

. Badu had trials in England with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

in August 2008 and at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

three months later. Badu then signed on 16 April 2009, a six-month loan contract with

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

, on loan from Berlin FC.

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

quoted a source from a Berlin FC official, that the loan cost Recreativo about €30,000 (US$40,000), while

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

reported his new club holds an option for a contract between 30 June 2012 and the loan would be effective until the opening of 2009 summer transfer window. His contract with the Spanish club

was dissolved in September 2009 and he moved back to

Udinese

In November 2009,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

announced the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football league system, Italian fo ...

would sign Badu in January 2010 and on 28 January 2010, the

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

club announced on its official site the permanent signing of the player from Berlin FC. Badu received his first team call-up against

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

on 12 February, but did not play. After a successive "appearances" as unused sub, he replaced

Paolo Sammarco Paolo Sammarco (born 17 March 1983) is an Italian football coach and a former player who played as a midfielder. He is the caretaker head coach of Serie D club Ambrosiana. Club career Chievo A product of European giants A.C. Milan's youth syst ...

on 28 March 2010 against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, which Udinese lost 1–4. Badu became a regular in 2011–12 season, replacing departed

Gökhan Inler Gökhan Inler (, born 27 June 1984) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He is currently in charge as a technical director of Italian football club Udinese. Inler began his professional career with FC B ...

in new 4–1–4–1 or 4–4–1–1 formation against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Badu was one of the cover of attacking midfielder Giampiero Pinzi along with countryman,

Kwadwo Asamoah Kwadwo Asamoah (, ; born 9 December 1988) is a Ghanaian former professional Association football, footballer. Mainly a Midfielder#Wide midfielder, left midfielder or Defender (association football)#Full-back, left-back, he was also occasionally d ...

. In August 2017, he joined Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

for the 2017–18 season. He was injured whilst on loan, and returned to first-team action with Udinese in March 2019, after 11 months out.

Verona

On 13 July 2019, Badu signed to

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

on loan with an obligation to buy. He was hospitalised in August with blood clots on his lungs, but was cleared to play in December 2019. He featured in 10 matches on loan at the club. After the 2019–20 season Hellas Verona activated their obligation to sign him on a two-year deal from Udinese after playing for the Udine-based club for 10 years and playing in 193 matches in all competitions, scoring 10 times and making 11 assists. He was not included in Verona's 2020–21 Serie A squad. On 2 January 2021, he announced that he terminated his Verona contract and retired from playing.

Great Olympics

In July 2022, 13 years after playing in the Ghana Premier League, Badu made a return to the league and signed for Nungua-based club

Accra Great Olympics Accra Great Olympics is a Ghanaian professional Football team, football club based in Accra, Greater Accra Region, Greater Accra. The club is currently competing in the Ghana Premier League. It has won the Ghana Premier League twice, in 1970, 197 ...

as a free agent. He signed a one-year deal with the club ahead of the 2022–23 season. He made his debut on 17 August 2022 against Bechem United, in a 5–4 penalties loss after a goalless draw in regulation time in the 2022 GHALCA G6. He played in all matches as Olympics went on to win the GHALCA G6 at the end of the tournament after defeating Bechem United by 2–0 in the final. On 9 September 2022, a day to the commencement of the league, he was officially unveiled by the club. After a remarkable five-month tenure, during which he participated in 11 league games and earned the prestigious Man of the Match award twice, he bid farewell to Olympics.

International career

Badu has represented Ghana at under-20, under-23 and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

level. On 22 May 2008, he received his first call-up to the Black Stars. Badu's first senior international appearance came on 8 June 2008 against

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

and his first goal against Congo in June 2011.

Youth career

On 1 January 2009, he was named in the Black Satellites squad for the

2009 African Youth Championship The 2009 African Youth Championship is a football tournament for under 20 players. It was held in Rwanda from 18 January until 1 February 2009. It also served as qualification for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Qualification Preliminary round ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. Badu played for the Black Stars' domestic based team at the

2009 African Championship of Nations The 2009 African Nations Championship, also known as CHAN 2009 for short, was the inaugural edition of the biennial association football tournament organized by CAF featuring national teams consisting of players playing in their respective loca ...

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

and represented his team at

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Badu scored the winning sudden death penalty on 16 October 2009 in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The penalty made Ghana the first African nation to win the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

Senior career

In 2010, Badu was selected for his first

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

as the Black Stars finished runners-up to

, and went on to appear in the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

editions of the tournament, with the team twice recording fourth-placed finishes. During the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, in a group match between Ghana and

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

, Badu flipped up a teammate's pass from just outside the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends to each side of the goal and in front of it. If any part of the ball is ove ...

and launched a mid-air volley to score a goal that was later nominated for the 2012

FIFA Puskás Award The FIFA Puskás Award is an award established on 20 October 2009 by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), at the behest of then-president Sepp Blatter, to be awarded to the player judged to have scored the most ae ...

(FIFA's global Goal of the Year award). After missing the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

through injury, Badu was selected in Ghana's squad for the 2014 tournament.

Personal life

Emmanuel Agyeman-Badu hails from

Seikwa Seikwa is a town located in Tain District, in Bono region (formerly Brong Ahafo), Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, a ...

of the Republic of Ghana. He speaks his native language, Koulango, as well as Twi and English. He had his primary and junior high school education at the Seikwa Roman Catholic School and continued at the Nkoranman Senior High School, also at Seikwa. His brother Nana Agyemang-Badu plays for

. Badu is the nephew of Asiedu Nketia. He is married to Regiatta Affua Arthur.

Career statistics

International

International goals

:''Score and Result list Ghana's goal tally first'' , - , 1. , , 3 June 2011 , ,

Baba Yara Stadium Baba Yara Sports Stadium (also Kumasi Sports Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Kumasi, Ashanti. It is Ghana's largest stadium, with a seating capacity of 40,528. The Kumasi Stadium is used mostly for football matches, although it is also u ...

Kumasi Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...

, Ghana , , , , , , , ,

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,

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Accra Sports Stadium The Accra Sports Stadium, formerly named the Ohene Djan Stadium, is a multi-use stadium (40,000-capacity, all-seater) located in Accra, Ghana, mostly used for association football matches. It is also used for rugby union. Overview The stadium w ...

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Ghana , , , , , , , , 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification ,

, - , 3. , , 15 November 2011 , , Stade Municipal (Saint-Leu-la-Forêt), Stade Municipal,

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Stade de Franceville The Stade de Franceville is a stadium in Franceville, Gabon. The 22,000 capacity stadium was opened in January 2012, in time for its use in the 2012 African Cup of Nations. The opening game was a Exhibition game, friendly between Gabon national f ...

Franceville Franceville is one of the four largest cities in Gabon, with a population of 110,568 at the 2013 census. It lies on the Mpassa River and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku. Overview P ...

, Gabon , , , , , , , ,

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,

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Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a association football, soccer and rugby union stadium in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup matches, including the third-place play off. It is the home of Chip ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

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Stade de Kégué Stade de Kégué is a multi-use stadium in Lomé, Togo. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 25,000 people and opened in 2000. It was designed by Chinese architect Yang Zhou. The stadium was the main host of the 20 ...

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Honours

Asante Kotoko * First Capital Plus Premier League, Ghana Premier League: 2007–2008 Great Olympics * GHALCA G6: 2022 Ghana U-20 *

African Youth Championship The U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, known for short as the U-20 AFCON and for sponsorship purposes as TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, previously known as the African Youth Championship and the African U-20 Championship, is the biennial int ...

:Swiss club moves for Kotoko's Samuel Inkoom
on www.modernghana.com

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Ghana beat Cameroon to win U-20 title
www.http://sports.thinkghana.com *

Ghana *

Silver Medal:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Agyemang-Badu, Emmanuel 1990 births Living people People from Berekum Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's international footballers Ghana men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Berekum Arsenal F.C. players Asante Kotoko S.C. players Recreativo de Huelva players Udinese Calcio players Bursaspor footballers Hellas Verona FC players Qingdao F.C. players Accra Great Olympics F.C. players La Liga players Serie A players Süper Lig players Chinese Super League players Ghana Premier League players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in China Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in China 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen