Emmanuel Ekpo: Living the American Dream

While growing up in Calabar, Emmanuel Ekpo frequently heard of a place called America. From stories and pictures he frequently saw of the place, he often fantasised about studying and making a living in such a magical place. Little did he know then that at some point, his dream would turn to reality.

In the beginning, however, studying in America was a forlorn hope. The fees were astronomical and were beyond the reach of his parents. Even in Nigeria, it was almost impossible for him to his get higher education because of paucity of funds.

So he practically abandoned his childhood dream and instead focused on ways of making a decent living locally for himself. Around that time, he was a regular football player in his neighbourhood in Calabar. From there, his football skills attracted the attention of football scouts from Calabar Rovers Football Club. Soon, he joined the club’s youth team. He then moved to Akwa United FC during the 2006/2007 season, but joined the Enyimba FC in 2007. At that time, Ekpo’s new dream was to play in the big football leagues in Europe, preferably in England, Italy or Spain. Going to America was now a distant dream.

But, as fate would have it, that was where his football skills would eventually lead him. Ekpo signed a contract with Columbus Crew, a top football club in America’s Major League Soccer on April 15, 2008. The 21-year-old midfielder could hardly believe it when it dawned on him that his childhood dream of working and living in America had come true. “What happened to me proves true that dreams do turn into reality if only you believe and work hard,” he said.

Actualising his dream does not mean Ekpo is now complacent. He scored an impressive first goal for Columbus Crew on June 28, 2008 in a game against the Colorado Rapids. He repeated the feat a month later against the Chicago Fire. An imposing presence at 6ft 1 inch tall, Ekpo has since broken into the first team at the club in recent times. He has made 17 regular season appearances and apart from scoring goals, has provided precious assists that have resulted in triumphs for Columbus Crew.

Overall, Ekpo is a player who catches your attention right away. In a brief moment, it is easy to see he’s talented and wiser than his tender age. He is strong and has broad shoulders that enable him to build a fence around the ball when he is holding on to it. He glides along with pace when he has the ball; he plays sharp confident passes and strikes the ball hard. He is also a mature professional who works really hard and does not skive.

Sigi Schmid, his coach at Columbus Crew, rates the young Nigerian highly and is not surprised at the success he has achieved.  “The one thing I like about him is some players pick and choose when they work at practice, but he works pretty consistently. He’s got a great first step, he’s got great quickness, he’s got good vision, and he’s pretty good at knowing where he’s at in a game,” he said.

His performance with the team brought him to the attention of Samson Siasia, the handler of the U-23 Olympics football team. Siasia was assembling a team for the Beijing Olympics and during one of his talent haunts he spotted Ekpo and asked him to join Nigeria’s Olympics qualifying team.

That became the season when Ekpo’s commitment to Nigeria manifested itself. While undergoing pre-season training with Columbus Crew, he was frequently flying to Nigeria to participate in the Olympics team’s qualifying matches. When Nigeria defeated South Africa, 3-0, on March 26, 2008 to advance to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, he was ecstatic. “I was thrilled. My colleagues and I were in a tight group and we almost lost it, but our tenacity and hard work paid off. We were just happy and relieved to be at the Olympics,’ he said. He earned a silver medal for participating in all six matches of the Men’s Football event during the Beijing Olympics. He was a second half substitution in all the matches. His memorable match was against the American team when, despite all odds, he was able to part of the victorious Nigerian team. Ekpo was surprised that American journalists insinuated that Nigeria’s triumph in the match was aided by voodoo embedded in the captain’s arm band because the two scorers, Isaac Promise and Obinna Nsofor, at different stages of the match, wore the captain’s band. When Promise was substituted for Nsofor, he handed the band to Nsofor instead of Ambrose Vanzekin, the goalkeeper and assistant captain because Vanzekin was too far away. When Nsofor scored minutes later, the Americans attributed it to voodoo. “It was probably due to the pain of the loss. Americans rarely believe in such things,” Ekpo said.

Shortly before his Olympics appearance, Ekpo’s abilities had also brought him to the notice of Berti Vogts, the former coach of the Super Eagles, the country’s senior national team. Vogts invited him to participate in Nigeria’s qualifying matches for the 2008 Ghana Africa Cup of Nations.

Ekpo was born December 20, 1987 in Ekori, in Calabar. Expectedly, he loves Calabar delicacies like Edikangikong and Afan and other delicacies from the area. They are some of the things he misses most about Nigeria while playing abroad. His favourite colours are white, blue and brown. Outside the football, Ekpo loves reading, surfing the internet and watching movies.

Concerning his future plans, Ekpo hopes to spend the rest of his playing career outside America. He loves playing for Columbus Crew and relishes living his American dream, but he craves the challenges of European football and would love to play for a club in the English Premiership.