Emiliano Tade (born March 3, 1988) is an Argentine professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Auckland City in the New Zealand Football Championship. Tade holds the record for number of consecutive participations in the FIFA Club World Cup, appearing for Auckland City at seven consecutive FIFA Club World Cup tournaments from 2011 to 2017. He is currently the all-time leading goal scorer for Auckland City, as well as the all-time leading goal scorer in New Zealand Football Championship history; his exploits earned him a professional move to South Africa, eventually signing for league champions

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football ...

in 2019.

Career

Early career

Born in Santiago del Estero, Tade grew up playing for boyhood side

Club Atlético Mitre Club Atlético Mitre is an Argentine sports club located in the Santiago del Estero. The club is mostly known for its football team, that currently plays in Primera B Nacional, the second division of Argentine football league system. Other spo ...

. Instead of pursuing a career in football, Tade was studying to become a lawyer before moving to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in April 2010. After Martín Pereyra, a fellow Argentine playing in New Zealand, suggested he trial for local semi-pro side

Wellington United Wellington United AFC is an association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand, that competes in the Central League. History Wellington Diamond United Wellington Diamond United was the result of the merger of Diamond and Zealandia/Well ...

, Tade began a club football career. Tade's performances in the

Central Premier League The Central League is an amateur status league competition run by Capital Football for Association football clubs located in the southern and central parts of the North Island, New Zealand. From 2021 it is at the second level of New Zealand Footb ...

impressed

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was a New Zealand semi-professional football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most succe ...

head coach

Stu Jacobs Stu Jacobs (born 25 October 1965) is a New Zealand association football player and manager who represented New Zealand and coached the New Zealand Men's Olympic team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. In October 2016 he was awarded Capital F ...

, and Tade signed for the

ASB Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

club prior to the 2010–11 season, scoring six goals in 16 appearances in his debut season in the New Zealand top flight.

Auckland City

The next season, Tade sealed a move to Auckland City, joining a Hispanic contingent that included

Andreu Guerao Andreu Guerao Mayoral (born 17 June 1983), known simply as Andreu, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Andreu made his professional debut with FC Barcelona B in the third division, and w ...

, Manel Expósito,

Albert Riera Albert Riera Ortega (born 15 April 1982) is a Spanish former footballer who played as left winger but also as a left-back, currently manager of Slovenian club Olimpija Ljubljana. He made a name for himself at Espanyol (with whom he won a Copa ...

, Ángel Berlanga and Luis Corrales. Tade won the golden boot in both the 2013–14 ASB Premiership and

2013–14 OFC Champions League The 2013–14 OFC Champions League was the 13th edition of the Oceanian Club Championship, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 8th season under the current OFC Champions League ...

. He also won his first league championship that season, scoring the only goal in the final as Auckland City beat former club Team Wellington on 16 March 2014. Due to Auckland City's dominance in the

OFC Champions League The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club soccer competition in Oceania. It is organised by the OFC, Oceania's football governing body. Beginning as the Oceania Club Championship (1987–2006), it has been ...

, winning the competition for seven straight seasons, Tade appeared at a record seven consecutive FIFA Club World Cup competitions between 2011 and 2017. This included Auckland City's historic run in the

2014 FIFA Club World Cup The 2014 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between th ...

, falling to Argentine giants San Lorenzo in the semifinal, before defeating

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

in the third-place playoff. His performances in the tournament earned him a move to

Torneo Federal A The Torneo Federal A (in English "Federal A Tournament") is one of the two professional leagues that form the regionalised third level of the Argentine football league system, along with Primera B Metropolitana. The competition was established in 2 ...

side

ahead of the 2015 season; however, he lasted less than a season before returning to Auckland.

South Africa

AmaZulu

On 26 May 2018, Tade confirmed that he had completed a move to

Absa Premiership The South African Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premiership for sponsorship purposes, is the premier men's professional football/soccer league and the highest division in the league system of South Africa, organized since ...

club

AmaZulu FC Amazulu FC was a football club based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The club played in the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League. The team was founded in 1996 by Charles Mhlauri and after nine years the club was dissolved. In 2003 the team has won the Zimbab ...

following a successful trial. Tade made his debut for ''Usuthu'' in a 1−0 win over

Baroka FC Baroka F.C. is a South African football club from Ga-Mphahlele near Polokwane, Limpopo that plays in the National First Division also known as the Motsepe Foundation Championship for sponsorship reasons, following their relegation from the top t ...

on 4 August 2018. He quickly began to impress during his time in South Africa, forming a strong partnership with Bongi Ntuli and becoming widely regarded as one of the most dangerous forwards in the league. After a productive first half of the season where Tade scored seven goals in all competitions and won Player of the Month honours for November and December, he drew interest from the league's larger clubs.

Mamelodi Sundowns

On 31 January 2019, reigning champions

announced the signing of Emiliano Tade for an undisclosed fee - believed to be around 6 million

rand The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...

- which also included the permanent transfer of Bongi Ntuli, previously on loan to AmaZulu, in the other direction. Mamelodi went on to win the title that season, with Tade contributing two goals in 12 appearances for Sundowns. His next season in South Africa was plagued by injury and personal issues; Tade failed to make an appearance for Sundowns, and eventually requested a release from his contract, citing constant injury struggles, homesickness and a wish to cease playing professionally. Tade agreed a mutual termination of contract, and he was officially released on 11 December 2019, returning to his family in New Zealand.

Return to Auckland City

On 13 January 2020, Auckland City confirmed that Tade had returned to the club alongside

Tom Doyle Thomas Joseph Doyle (born 30 June 1992) is a New Zealand international footballer who currently plays as a left back for Bay Olympic in the Northern League. Doyle made his senior professional debut for Wellington Phoenix FC in the 2014 FFA Cu ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

With

Auckland City FC Auckland City Football Club is a New Zealand professional football club based in the suburb of Sandringham in Auckland, New Zealand. They currently compete in the Northern League. Auckland City have established themselves as a major force in bo ...

* New Zealand Football Championship (2): 2013–14, 2014–15 *

New Zealand National League The New Zealand Men's National League is a men's football league at the top of the New Zealand football league system. Founded in 2021, the New Zealand National League is the successor to the New Zealand Football Championship. The league will ...

(1):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

* Northern League (2):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

Chatham Cup The Chatham Cup is New Zealand's premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in men's association football. It is held annually, with the final contested in September. The current champions of the Chatham Cup are 2022 winners Auck ...

(1):

Charity Cup The Charity Cup (known as the ASB Charity Cup for sponsorship reasons) is New Zealand's association football super cup, which takes place on annual basis. The competition was founded in 1978 as the NZFA Challenge Trophy. The Champions of the N ...

(4): 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 *

(7):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, 2015,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

OFC President's Cup The OFC President's Cup was an association football competition organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) between clubs and national teams. A decision to create this competition was confirmed at the OFC's Executive committee in March ...

(1):

* FIFA Club World Cup 3rd Place:

With

Central United Central United Football Club is an amateur association football (soccer) club based in Sandringham, Auckland, New Zealand who complete in the NRF Championship. The team was officially called ''Central Soccer Club'' until 1996 when it change ...

(1):

Individual

* Jack Batty Memorial Cup (1):

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tade, Emiliano 1988 births Living people Argentine footballers Wellington United players Team Wellington players Auckland City FC players AmaZulu F.C. players Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. players New Zealand Football Championship players Association football forwards New Zealand National League players People from Santiago del Estero Sportspeople from Santiago del Estero Province