Breel Embolo
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Breel Donald Embolo | ||
| Date of birth | 14 February 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Yaoundé, Cameroon | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Basel | ||
| Number | 36 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2008 | Nordstern | ||
| 2008–2010 | Old Boys | ||
| 2010–2014 | Basel | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014 | Basel U21 | 6 | (0) |
| 2014– | Basel | 32 | (11) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2012–2013 | Switzerland U16 | 4 | (1) |
| 2013 | Switzerland U18 | 0 | (0) |
| 2014– | Switzerland U20 | 2 | (0) |
| 2014– | Switzerland U21 | 3 | (0) |
| 2015– | Switzerland | 1 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 26 May 2015 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 March 2015 | |||
Breel-Donald Embolo (born 14 February 1997) is a Swiss footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Super League club FC Basel.
Youth football
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.
Club career
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]
International career
Embolo made four appearances for the Switzerland U-16 national team. He scored his first international goal on 1 November 2012 in the 3–0 away win against the Ukraine U-16. He was also eligible to play for Cameroon, however in December 2014 he pledged his international allegiance to Switzerland.[10] 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.[11]
Personal life
Embolo was born in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé. His mother settled with her two sons in Basel, because there was no future for them in Cameroon. He received Swiss citizenship on 19 February 2015.[12][13]
Honours
Club
- Basel
Individual
- FC Basel Young Player of the Year: 2013 [3]
References
- ^ a b Kiesewetter, Dominik (2012). "U16 kurz vor der Ziellinie!" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
- ^ a b FC Basel 1893 (2013). "Die U16 holt das Double!" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b FC Basel 1893 (2013). "Auszeichnung der "Rookies of the Year"" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2013-06-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ FC Basel 1893 (2013). "Profivertrag für U16-Stürmer Breel-Donald Embolo" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2013-03-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Marti, Caspar (2014). "Keine Tore zwischen Basel und Salzburg" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
- ^ Hindley, Martyn (2014). "Basel put breaks on Salzburg". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2014-03-13.
- ^ Marti, Caspar (2014). "Der FCB setzt gegen Aarau das gewünschte Zeichen" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
- ^ Grossenbacher, Sacha (2014). "Fotos vom Spiel gegen Lausanne sowie den anschliessenden Feierlichkeiten" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
- ^ Holyman, Ian (4 November 2014). "Embolo leads Basel to Ludogorets stroll". UEFA. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
- ^ "Breel Embolo chooses to play for Switzerland over Cameroon". BBC Sport. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ McCarthy, Kyle (31 March 2015). "Switzerland 1-1 USA: Altidore sent off in friendly draw". Goal.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
- ^ Kreis, Stefan; Sandro Inguscio (2014). "FCB-Star Embolo erhält den Schweizer Pass!" (in German). blick.ch. Retrieved 2014-12-12.
- ^ "FCB-Stürmer Breel Embolo erhält den Schweizer Pass" (in German). Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.