Breel Embolo

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Breel Embolo
Personal information
Full name Breel-Donald Embolo
Date of birth (1997-02-14) 14 February 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Yaoundé, Cameroon
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Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 FC Basel
Number 36
Youth career
2006–2008 Nordstern
2008–2010 Old Boys
2010–2014 Basel
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014– Basel 61 (21)
International career‡
2012–2013 Switzerland U16 4 (1)
2014– Switzerland U20 3 (0)
2014– Switzerland U21 4 (0)
2015– Switzerland 9 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of end of season 2015/16
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 March 2016

Breel-Donald Embolo (born 14 February 1997) is a Swiss professional footballer, who plays as a striker or midfielder for Swiss Super League side Basel. Since his debut in March 2014, he has won three consecutive league titles for them.

He plays as for Switzerland's under-21 team and has made several appearances for their first team since March 2015.

Club career

Early career

Embolo started his youth football with Nordstern. Via Old Boys he transferred to the youth system of Basel in 2010. In the 2011–12 and 2012–13 seasons he played in Basel's U-16. With the U-16 team he won the Swiss Championship title twice at this level.[1][2] He received various individual prizes, such as the Basel youngster of the year 2013.[3] Just three weeks after his 16th birthday he signed his first professional contract with the club.[4] In summer 2013 he rose to play in their U-18 and U-21 teams.

FC Basel

Embolo made his professional debut on 13 March 2014 as a 90th-minute substitute for Geoffroy Serey in the Europea League round of 16 first leg in St. Jakob-Park.[5] The match against Red Bull Salzburg ended in a goalless draw.[6] Just three days later, on 16 March, he made his Swiss Super League debut in the 5–0 home win against Aarau, entering as a substitute in the 85th minute. He scored his first goal for the team only four minutes later, the final goal of the game.[7] At the end of the 2013–14 Super League season he won the league championship with Basel.[8] They also reached the final of the 2013–14 Swiss Cup, but were beaten 2–0 by Zürich after extra time.

On 4 November 2014 he scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League, opening a 4–0 home group win against Ludogorets Razgrad.[9] The season 2014–15 was a very successful one for Embolo and FC Basel. The championship was won for the sixth time in a row that season[10] and in the 2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final. But for the third season in a row, they finished as runners-up, losing 0–3 to FC Sion in the final. Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage and reached the knockout phase as on 9 December 2014 they managed a 1–1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool.[11] But then Basel then lost to Porto in the Round of 16. Basel played a total of 65 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 8 Champions League and 15 test matches). Under new manager Paulo Sousa Embolo totaled 54 appearances, 27 (five goals) in the League, 5 (six goals) in the Cup, 8 in the Champions League (one goal), as well 14 in test games. He totaled 18 goals in all these matches.[12]

On 19 August 2015, Embolo scored in a 2–2 draw against Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv at St. Jakob-Park in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.[13] He was scouted by several German and English clubs due to his performances, among them Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund.[14] Late into the 2016 January transfer window Wolfsburg made a bid of around €27 million for Embolo, but it was rejected by Basel.[15]

Under trainer Urs Fischer Embolo won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season for the third time.[16]

International career

Embolo made four appearances for the Switzerland U16 national team. He scored his first international goal on 1 November 2012 in the 3–0 away win against the Ukraine U16. He was also eligible to play for Cameroon, however in December 2014 he pledged his international allegiance to Switzerland.[17]

He made his senior international debut on 31 March 2015, replacing Josip Drmić after 56 minutes of an eventual 1–1 friendly draw against the United States in Zürich.[18] On 9 October, he scored his first international goal, a penalty in a 7–0 win over San Marino at the AFG Arena in St Gallen, converting after Alessandro Della Valle fouled Eren Derdiyok; the result qualified the Swiss to UEFA Euro 2016. In the same game, he also set up Michael Lang for the first goal and won a spot-kick scored by Johan Djourou.[19]

Style of play

UEFA.com writer, Steffen Potter, praised Embolo as a complete striker: "He is powerful, technically strong and decisive. He has explosive pace and is a composed finisher". Fabian Frei, who was a midfielder for FC Basel at the same time with Embolo, complimented him as well, for keeping his feet on the ground.[20]

I think he is a sensation – playing like that aged 17. I like him as a person as much as I do as a player. His feet will stay on the ground – he won't be shooting from 50 metres to score the goal of the season. You can give him good advice and he is ready to take it without getting angry.

Embolo has cited Mario Balotelli as one of his inspirations. Both players like to lurk between defenders and both have great control allied to physical prowess.[20]

Personal life

Embolo was born in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. His mother settled with her two sons in Basel, believing there was no future for them in Cameroon. Embolo received Swiss citizenship on 12 December 2014.[21][22]

Statistics

Club

As of match played 20 April 2016
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Basel 2013–14 Swiss Super League 7 1 0 0 4 0 — 11 1
2014–15 27 10 5 6 8 1 — 40 17
2015–16 22 9 1 0 8 2 4 1 35 12
FC Basel Total 56 20 6 6 20 3 4 1 86 30
Career total 56 20 6 6 20 3 4 1 86 30

International

Statistics accurate as of matches played on 29 March 2016.[23]
Swiss national team
Year Apps Goals
2015 7 1
2016 2 0
Total 9 1

Honours

Club

Basel[24]

Individual

  • FC Basel Young Player of the Year: 2013[3]

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (German)
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Breel Embolo at Soccerway

External links

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