Over the weekend, the football world was distressed to hear about the current plight of former Arsenal, Galatasaray and Ivory Coast full back Emmanuel Eboue.
Darren Lewis of Daily Mail interviewed Eboue and revealed that that former professional football is broke and his life is in trumoil.
Eboue is “skint”, “hides from bailiffs” is “sleeping on a friend’s floor” and “cannot afford a washing machine”.
Eboue “on the brink of suicide”
The former Arsenal defender says he is “on the brink of suicide”. Lewis points out that this is a stunning fall from grace for a player that appeared in the Champions League and Africa Cup of Nations finals.
The 34-year-old cannot play professional football now due to ill health and is struggling financially due to losing a bitter divorce battle.
The current plight of the Ivorian is heart wrenching and many football fans have reacted with support for the former Ivory Coast defender.
Galatasaray’s awesome gesture
Fittingly, on Christmas Day, some positive news has arrived for Eboue from Turkey and former club Galatasaray.
CNN Turkey report that returning Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim has offered Eboue a job at the Turkish giants to be the assistant coach of their Under-14 side.
Terim returned to Galatasaray last week for a fourth stint as manager of the club.
“I love him very much”
When Eboue’s plight became clear to those in Turkey, Galatasaray fans started a social media campaign to get their club to support their former player.
This was supported by former Galatasaray players, including Hasan Sas and Necato Ates.
After Galatasaray’s Turkish Super Lig win over Gotzepe on Sunday, Terim told the media: “We heard news about Eboue in the dressing room, and there I was informed.”
Emmanuel Eboue is also quoted in the CNN article saying: “I would be very happy if Galatasaray gave me this duty, and Fatih Terim is my father, I love him very much, I do everything for him because I love him very much.”
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