togo players attacked

[carl_feedthegoat]

Poor old edge, black sheep of the family once again!! ;)

BETTER THAN BEING THE RUNT OF THE LITTER MATE............THAT WAS ANDY DAVIES.

Edge is the CUNT of the litter lol.

EDGE HAS BEEN QUIET LATELY...........ID LIKE TO SEE HIM POST MORE AND WIND UP THE USUAL SUPSECTS.

[Beefymcfc]

Poor old edge, black sheep of the family once again!! ;)

BETTER THAN BEING THE RUNT OF THE LITTER MATE............THAT WAS ANDY DAVIES.

Edge and Andy Davies in the same sentence........poor lad!

[Mase]

Now they know how I feel driving through Bolton every day!

All jokes aside, fingers crossed for every player that was on that coach, not just Ade. They all have families, friends, clubs, fans, etc so hopefully they'll recover.

[Blue Blood]

I just listened to the five live interview myself, ade sounds really really upset but more so the guy sounds really frightened, they have no idea why these guys tried to kill them, they still half don't believe its over.

No one should ever have to go through what them guys went through today. i can barely imagine it.

Next time Ade pulls on the shirt we need to give the lad the biggest cheer ever. He'll need the support after this ordeal.

[dazby]

Poor old edge, black sheep of the family once again!! ;)

Hey everyone, look at Edge. Let's pay attention to Edge. Can you all see Edge? He's being controversial. Do something else Edge so that we can all take notice of you.

[edge275]

I just listened to the five live interview myself, ade sounds really really upset but more so the guy sounds really frightened, they have no idea why these guys tried to kill them, they still half don't believe its over.

No one should ever have to go through what them guys went through today. i can barely imagine it.

Next time Ade pulls on the shirt we need to give the lad the biggest cheer ever. He'll need the support after this ordeal.

Agree, despite my joking conversation posted earlier (I have a sick sense of humour, so sue me) I think Ade needs a big confidence boost.

[Blackadder]

From the sound of his interview I'll be amazed if Togo carry on. Players' meeting tonight, decision in the morning - but it sounds like they've already made up their minds and who can blame them?

The tournament should be called off but there's too much money and politics involved for that to happen.

[pears12]

yeah I think the togo national team should really just come home.. also why are they playing games in a separatist stronghold. I feel for the players involved.. I think matches in cabinda have to get moved to a safer place

[Lee_R]

Obviously the decision should be down to the team and if they decide to go home then so be it. However this sort of thing can really mess a persons head up and maybe the best way of dealing with it is to try and pull together as a team and cope together on the pitch? I dont know never been in that situation.. must be awful.

[JB]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/8449686.stm

If the link above works, you should be able to hear Ade's interview on 5Live.

[Mark (Blue Army)]

Adebayor says Togo squad want to go home following bus attack


Emmanuel Adebayor admitted a lot of his Togo team-mates wanted to quit the African Cup of Nations at the earliest opportunity following the attack on their team bus in Angola in which two players were shot and their bus driver was killed.

The Manchester City striker, who revealed the terrifying attack en route to the team's base in the Cabinda province lasted 30 minutes, will convene a team meeting as captain tonight at which the squad will discuss whether they stay in Angola or return to their clubs.

He told BBC Radio Five Live: "I think a lot of players want to leave. I don't think they want to be at this tournament any more because they have seen their death already.

"Most of the players want to go back to their family. No one can sleep after what they have seen today. They have seen one of their team-mates have a bullet in his body, who is crying, who is losing consciousness and everything.

"So we will have a good meeting tonight, everyone will go to their room, they will rest and we will see tomorrow morning we will make a decision which is good for our life."

Adebayor added: "We are still in shock. If the security is not sure, then we will be leaving tomorrow. I don't think they will be ready to give their life. We will discuss everything as a team and we will take a decision that we think is good for our career, is good for our life and good for our family."

Adebayor said the drama unfolded when the Togo team bus reached the border between DR Congo and Angola.

He said: "We saw military people dressed like they were going to war and it was a little bit of a shock at the beginning but I thought 'OK, it's for security which is normal, because we are players here for a big tournament and we are like ambassadors for Africans, so it's normal that security is big'.

"We went through the border and got into Angola and, I don't know, 5km away from the border we started hearing shooting on the bus, for no reason. At the end of the day we got a lot of (people) injured.

"One of our second goalkeepers got a bullet in his body. Our press and communications guy has got injured; he's not even conscious now, we don't know if he's going to survive or not.

"These are the things we keep saying, keep repeating. In Africa we have to change our image if we want to be respected but unfortunately that's not happening.

"We have a chance with one of the biggest tournaments in the world, the World Cup. Can you imagine what's happening now? I'm disgraced and, I don't know, it's unfair."

Adebayor paid tribute to the security team who came to the rescue of the Togo players and staff after what is becoming clear was a sustained attack.

"To be honest, without the security then I would not be here talking," added Adebayor. "Maybe you would be talking to my dead body. The security have done their job quite well," he told the BBC World Service.

"The thing we don't understand is why they shot on our bus. That's the question now. There's no one who has got a reason for that. It's not only one guy or two guys shooting one time or two times on our bus.

"Can you imagine, we have been in the middle of that for 30 minutes, even a little bit more. Our bus had been stopped and people had been shooting on our bus for 30 minutes.

"If you can imagine, the silence on the bus was unbelievable. "I don't know whether I am the target or not but I know my team or my country is the target. Why, I don't know.

"We waited in hiding for 30 minutes because the bus had nowhere to go. Our driver was dead. He had the steering wheel in his hand but he had passed away. After that there were about seven or eight 4X4s arriving and we had to go out from the bus and climb into that car," said Adebayor who was then involved helping carry his injured team-mates and federation staff from their transport to the hospital.

"It was like we were still living in a dream," Adebayor added. "I was one of the people who had to carry the injured players and injured staff into the hospital. Those are the times that you realise what is happening really.

"Everyone was crying and calling their family, I think this was the worst moment of this day. I am still in shock because I don't know whether it has really stopped or not or if we are still a target."

Serge Akakpo, who plays for the Romanian side FC Vaslui, and the goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale, who plays for GSI Pontivy in France, were confirmed by their clubs as the players injured in the attack

from guardian.co.uk

[Fidel Castro]

Fucking hell! This is fucking crazy.

Wasn't there a story that Oba Martins was shot at when he returned to Nigeria a few years back too?

I'm not very will up on African criminology, but can anyone really say that the World Cup will go ahead with no incidents which will endanger the lives of fans and/ or players?

Not a chance in hell im going to go watch the world cup in africa, thats for sure!

STOP BEING IGNORANT ..THIS DIDNT HAPPEN IN FUCKING SOUTH AFRICA FFS !!!

Exactly, you wouldn't have a problem going to the world cup if it was held in Russia (Georgia/Chechenia)???
Don't forget it wasn't that long ago that the whole of Eastern Europe was slaughtering each other and lest we forget Germany trying to take over the whole fuclin world. Euro 2000 was held in Holland and Belgium. There is a political party that wants to ban the law on underage sex....is that in Holland or South Africa??? Every country, every continent has it's own weird, wonderful and scary stories

[MARKMAKAVELI]

Wow this really gives you some perspective doesn't it!

The bus driver was shot dead as well. Fuck me, what a horrible world we live in.

[Blue Blood]

Quite unbelievable to be honest. I sincerely hope this doesnt effect Ades game for the rest of the season, Im sure it will definately get him down over the next couple of weeks but Im also sure that hes got it in him to bounce back.

I actually think the whole experience will benefit Ade's attitude to the game and to life in general long term.

When something this big happens it really realigns your perpective on life and makes you see how lucky you are, makes you want to sieze the day so to speak. For the celebrity footballers of the age who tend to live inside there own bubbles, when something like this happens it can be doubley life changing.

[blootoof]

Togo Team Quit African Cup Of Nations And Return To Lome

http://www.goal.com/en/news/815/african ... rican-cup-

[Blueboylewis]

Just a little video hear showing Ade and his fellow team mates hugging each other and Ade talking.

What a horrible event this has been. A horror show. What a bunch of twats those gunmen are. The tournament should not go on and togo and all other clubs should go back home for there own safety!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 449611.stm

[Blue Blood]

Togo Team Quit African Cup Of Nations And Return To Lome

http://www.goal.com/en/news/815/african ... rican-cup-

Correct decision. I'll be interested to see what the other teams do now.

[10.Goater_Legend]

Apparently one off the players who was shot has now passed away, I believe it was Serge Akakpo who was reported to be bleeding alot on the coach after being shot in the kidney.

R.I.P

Horrible set of events.

[svengali]

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/20 ... rom-Angola

Togo has pulled out of the Africa Cup of Nations after their team bus came under gunfire in Angola.

City star Emmanuel Adebayor, who is captain of the Togo side, was unharmed in the ambush and he and his team-mates met this morning before deciding that they wished to pull out of the tournament.

Their first game in the tournament had been scheduled to take place on Monday against Ghana, but they are now heading home to their families.

Two players were shot and injured in the attack in the northern province of Cabinda, and the coach driver was killed. Seven others were wounded.

Organisers have so far insisted the tournament will go ahead.

The Club is in regular contact with Emmanuel, his advisors and the English Football Association. It has been made clear by manager Roberto Mancini and senior officials that Emmanuel will now be given as much time as he needs to recover from the horrific attack.

The striker, who has admitted his state of shock, said before leaving the tournament that he ‘felt lucky to be alive’.

We will bring you more information as and when we get it

I hope the press leave him alone and he can cope ok.

[Bluez]

Horrible thing what's happened. Feel teerible abvout the driver and the injured staff and players.

At the same time, I get a bit annoyed at people calling it a mickey mouse tournament. I do agree that it probabaly shouldn't be played every year, but of course the African nations should have the right to their own continental cup, just like us and South America. The time of year might be a bit unfortunate for us, but playing football in the middle of the summer in Africa isn't really a good option ...

They have the right to their own cup competition and I can see why its in January, but having it every two years is ridiculous. That also menas that for Major african players playing in europe they will have a full league season, all the cup competions (for some this includes Champions league, ACN and the world cup in one year. That is crazy.

Also you have to ask who in the right mind would hold it in a nation often described as war torn? The fact this has already happened has shown the decision to be reckless.