Emmanuel Olisadebe received Polish citizenship in 2000. Although it did not meet the standard requirements for obtaining it passportthe then president Aleksander Kwaśniewski did not hesitate, especially since he was talented attacker was supposed to help the Polish national team advance to the world championships in Korea and Japan. And so it happened, as he scored a total of eight goals in the qualifiers and all fans treated him as a “national hero”.
Olisadebe's excellent form in both the top league and the national team meant that in 2001, Olisadebe was sold to the Greek Panathinaikos for less than two million euros. Then he played in England, China and Cyprus, but ended his career at the beginning of 2013.
Emmanuel Olisadebe married a Polish woman. What happened to his wife Beata Smolińska?
Olisadebe came to Poland for the first time in 1997, when he joined Polonia Warszawa from the Nigerian Jasper United FC. A few years later, he married Beata Smolińska, whom he met at Pizza Hut when she was only 18 and preparing for her high school final exams. The wedding guests included: the former head of the Chancellery of President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, Ryszard Kalisz, or the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, and the witness… the son of the then national team coach, Jerzy Engel.
– The groom wanted the wedding customs to be Polish. I remember such a scene: a young couple went out to the terrace, and there were ordinary passers-by, walking, waving and greeting the newlyweds. There was no hostility, on the contrary: openness. I thought it was worth it – recalls Michał Listkiewicz, who was one of the guests. However, in 2017, Olisadebe divorced Smolińska. The woman stayed in Poland, but they were already there football player returned to Nigeria.
On Sunday, December 22, he celebrated his 46th birthday. What is he currently doing?
– I am a fan of 'construction' and I already work in it. I have built five apartments and now I am profiting from them. My sixth one is already under construction, although the pandemic has slowed down this investment. Basically, I'm taking life slowly now. I'm not under any pressure, I'm not in a hurry. I'm not a very ambitious person, that's my nature, so I couldn't live in Europe, where the pressure of everyday life is very high. I lived in Europe so I can compare it – he admitted in an interview with WP SportoweFakty in 2020.
Emmanuel Olisadebe was very fast. But he had a weak head. “He fell asleep on the toilet”
Former Polonia locker roommate Igor Gołaszewski revealed that Olisadebe was unstoppable. He was simply unique. – First of all, speed and at that speed dribbling. The ball didn't bother him. In the first meters he was running away from defenders and couldn't be caught up. He scored a lot of goals. Personally, I played very well with him in the offensive line. I always told him: “you stand, I will run, and you just wait to escape and score a goal.” So that he wouldn't get tired, he explained.
And he revealed one funny situation involving a humble football player. – After winning one match, we wanted to “consummate” the triumph. We were coming back from the match by bus and you know – there was always beer, beer… There was a toilet at the back and Emmanuel… fell asleep on the toilet. He had a very weak head – he summed up jokingly for TVP Sport.