How former Arsenal and Man City striker survived a gunfight in Angola

• African football was in total shock when the national team of Togo was attacked by gunmen ahead of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
• Former Arsenal forward Emmanuel Adebayor who was part of the team survived a gun battle that could have taken his life
• Adebayor escaped unhurt but three people died in the end, including the Angolan driver and two of the Togolese players were shot

It has been eleven years since Emmanuel Adebayor and his Togolese teammates were attacked by gunmen ahead of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Hawks of Togo were paired alongside West African neighbours Ghana, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast in group B at the biggest African football showpiece.

Adebayor and his colleagues were based in Pointe Noir in the Republic of Congo, preparing for their first match against the Black Stars of Ghana at the Estadio do Chanzi in Cabinda, Angola.

With few days ahead of the match, Togo’s national team had just crossed the border into Angola when the bus came under fire.

Is Central Africa Republic's national football team the most underrated national team in Africa?

Football

Gunmen opened fire on the bus carrying the players and officials, wounding at least six people including two footballers from the West African nation. Three people died, including the team bus' driver.

The attack took place when en route to the team's base in Cabinda province and lasted 30 minutes.

The wounded were taken to a hospital in Cabinda, Angola’s main oil-producing region that has been plagued by unrest.

Togo's national team were later disqualified from 2010 tournament by CAF after they flew back home to their country following the attack.

The squad flew back home to Togo after three of their traveling party were killed and two players seriously injured by a machine-gun attack which occurred as their bus.