Emerse Faé (born 24 January 1984) is a former 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 played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in France, he represented the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

at international level.

Club career

Youth career

Born in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabit ...

, Faé started his youth career with

USSA Vertou Union Sportive Sainte Anne Vertou is a French association football team founded in 1944. They play at the Stade Vincent et Robert Girard in Vertou, Loire-Atlantique and they currently compete in the Championnat National 3, National 3. References ...

, before moving to

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as ...

in 1999.

Nantes

Faé's senior career started in 2003 with his home town club, Nantes, who were then in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

. He made his European debut on 26 July 2003, in a 3–2 loss in the third round of the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, ' betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International F ...

. In August 2003, he debuted in Ligue 1, in a 0–0 draw against

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

. In the Coupe de la Ligue Final 2004, he started for Nantes, which eventually lost on penalties. He went on to play over 100 league games for them. On 9 May 2007, Nantes was relegated from Ligue 1 and he handed in a transfer request.

Reading

During the summer 2007

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer ...

, Faé was strongly linked with a move to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, and eventually completed a £2.5m move on 2 August 2007, signing a three-year contract, with the option of a fourth. He was given the number 20 shirt. He made his Premier League debut for Reading as a makeshift right midfielder in the 3–0 defeat at

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pik ...

on 25 August 2007. Faé contracted

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

while on Africa Cup of Nations duty, and fell ill in the buildup to Reading's match away to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on 1 March 2008. He flew back south for medical treatment and had blood tests on 2 March, which revealed the disease. After failing to break into the Reading first team, Faé refused to play for the reserve team against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

reserves along with Ibrahima Sonko. Both were fined two weeks wages and suspended for two weeks and therefore missed the last two league games of the season, which ended with Reading being relegated. Faé then flew back to France with both

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and ...

and said that he would never play for Reading again. During his time with Reading, he started six games only.

Nice

In June 2008, he was loaned to Ligue 1 side

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

, with a view to a permanent transfer. He made his debut for his new club on 9 August, in a 1–0 defeat to

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, ver ...

, and on 20 September, he scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against

Le Mans FC Le Mans Football Club (; commonly referred to as Le Mans FC, formerly referred as Le Muc) is a French association football club based in Le Mans. The club was founded in 1985 as a result of a merger under the name Le Mans Union Club 72. In 2010 ...

. On 29 January 2009, it was confirmed that Faé had completed a permanent move to Nice for an undisclosed fee. On 18 October 2009, Faé was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

with a second yellow card, after he directed abusive language towards the referee in a 4–1 loss against

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town ('' commune'') and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginning around 3000 BC, settlements in the area of Lorient are attested by the presen ...

. He was suspended for three matches by the league. Nice also promised to discipline him internally. On 1 February 2012, Faé announced his retirement from football at age 28, due to ongoing problems with

phlebitis Phlebitis (or Venitis) is inflammation of a vein, usually in the legs. It most commonly occurs in superficial veins. Phlebitis often occurs in conjunction with thrombosis and is then called thrombophlebitis or superficial thrombophlebitis. Unlik ...

International career

As a teenager, Faé played football for the French U17 and U21 teams. He debuted for the French U17 team in an 8–0 win over Liechtenstein on 26 February 2001, and was in the team that won the

2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Championship 2001, the ninth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Port of Spain, Malabar in Arima, Marabella in San Fernando, Couva, and Bacolet in Scarborough at Trinidad and Tobago between 13 and 30 Septem ...

in Trinidad and Tobago. However, in 2005, following a FIFA rule change concerning national team eligibility, Faé switched allegiances from France to

, the country from which his parents had come. He received his first call up to the Ivory Coast national team for a World Cup qualifier against

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the nort ...

on 27 March 2005. He made his debut in the 3–0 win. Faé scored his first goal for the Ivory Coast in a 1–1 draw against Switzerland on 27 May 2006, when he fired in a 30-yard shot, two minutes after coming on. Faé went on to play at the 2006 African Cup of Nations, appearing at every match for a total of 452 minutes. He also played for the country in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

. He was called up to the Ivory Coast 23-man squad for the

2008 Africa Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confede ...

, and made his first appearance at the tournament in the Elephants' 3–0 victory over

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

on 29 January 2008. He was also selected for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, in which he appeared twice as a substitute. Faé was also selected in the preliminary Ivory Coast squad for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

, but was eventually dropped along with Bakari Koné and

Gilles Yapi Yapo Gilles Donald Yapi Yapo (born 30 January 1982) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Abidjan, Yapi Yapo started his career at ASEC Mimosas and then moved to Europe with Beveren. He joined Na ...

, who played with him in the 2006 World Cup.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ivory Coast's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Faé goal.''

Honors

Ivory Coast *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

runner-up: 2006

References

External links

Emerse Faé profile
at readingfc.co.uk * * *

at worldcup365.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Fae, Emerse 1984 births Living people Footballers from Nantes Citizens of Ivory Coast through descent Ivorian footballers French footballers Association football midfielders Ivory Coast international footballers France youth international footballers France under-21 international footballers French sportspeople of Ivorian descent 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players FC Nantes players Ligue 1 players Reading F.C. players Premier League players OGC Nice players Ivorian expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Black French sportspeople