Togo confident of Adebayor return
Reuters - Tuesday 08 November 2011, 18:30
Togo are hoping Emmanuel Adebayor will
return to international football for the first time in almost
two years when they start their World Cup qualifying campaign on
Friday.
But despite a call to the Tottenham Hotspur striker from the
Togo Football Federation president this week, and assurance of
his interest, it is still far from clear whether the small west
African country's most charismatic footballer will play.
"The president of the FTF, Gabriel Ameyi, had a long
discussion on the telephone yesterday with him. The probability
is strong that he will play in the match against Guinea Bissau,"
the official Togo government website said
on Tuesday.
Togo, surprise qualifiers for the World Cup in Germany in
2006 but now forced to play in the early knockout round because
of their lowly ranking, are away in Bissau in the first leg on
Friday and host the return in Lome next Tuesday.
If they win they advance to Group I with Cameroon, Libya and
the winner of another first-round tie between the Democratic
Republic of Congo and Swaziland.
The 27-year-old Adebayor, on loan at Tottenham from
Manchester City, retired from internationals after the last
African Nations Cup finals in Angola where Togo's team bus was
attacked on the eve of the tournament.
Separatists in the enclave of Cabinda shot at the bus,
killing two delegation members and badly injuring the
goalkeeper.
Togo withdrew from the Nations Cup before it kicked
off and a shaken Adebayor announced the end of his international
career soon after.
There have been several previous attempts to get him to
change his mind, all of which have failed.