Achille Emaná

Toulouse

Emaná was born in Yaoundé. After a brief youth spell in Spain with Valencia CF, he moved in 2000 to France and joined Toulouse FC. The following year, the 19-year-old became a starter for the Ligue 2 club, never playing less than 32 games in his first four seasons and helping the Haute-Garonne team to achieve promotion to Ligue 1 in 2002–03. In summer 2006, Emaná was strongly linked with Portsmouth from the Premier League. He was unable, however, to obtain a work permit, and subsequently signed a new contract with Toulouse until 2011. In the 2006–07 campaign, Emaná scored eight goals in 36 matches as the club finished a best-ever third in the top division and qualified for the UEFA Champions League. He took part in both legs of the 5–0 aggregate loss against Liverpool in the third qualifying round. Emaná finished in 17th position in his last year at the Stadium de Toulouse, with his team being the first placed outside of the relegation zone.

Betis

On 11 June 2008, Real Betis began negotiations with Toulouse for Emaná; the player was quoted as being keen to secure a move to Spain to further his career, even though his current club had apparently already rejected two bids for his signature. On 22 July, he finally completed his transfer for a fee of £5.5 million. Emaná scored his first goal for Betis on 19 October 2008, in a 3–0 home win over RCD Mallorca. In mid-April 2009, he added braces against Racing de Santander (3–2 away victory) and Sporting…

International

Scores and results list Cameroon's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Emaná goal.

Having made his debut on 11 February 2003 in a 3–0 friendly loss against Ivory Coast in Châteauroux, Emaná was part of Cameroon's squad at that year's FIFA Confederations Cup. He also appeared for the country in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations, where his side exited in the quarter-finals. In July 2007, frustrated with the treatment he received whilst at the service of the national team, Emaná retired from international play. He returned shortly after, appearing in the 2008 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations where he scored against Zambia in a 5–1 group stage win; they eventually lost the final to Egypt. Emaná represented Cameroon at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, playing two games – two defeats – in a group-stage exit. He won 42 caps and scored six goals in ten years.

Emaná's younger brother, Stephane, was also a footballer. A forward, he too had spells at Betis (youth only) and Gimnàstic. After retiring, Emaná worked as a model.