Childhood & Early Life
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was born in Laval, France, on June 18, 1989, to Pierre and Margarita. He has two more brothers. His father has been a lifelong influence on him owing to his background in football. Pierre started playing football at the age of six and exhibited an almost superhuman speed since his very early years.
Pierre was an avid football lover right from his early days and even mimicked the match commentary. All the three brothers spent hours playing football in their house and on the road. Both of his brothers also went on to make a career in professional football.
Pierre spent most of his childhood in Milan, where his father worked as a football scout. This further aroused Pierre’s interest in the game and he joined a youth academy in Milan, and finally in 2007, he got the first chance to join Milan’s youth team as a forward. In the opening ‘Champions Youth Cup’ held in Malaysia, Pierre’s team finished at the fourth place. Pierre scored six goals in seven matches and caught the attention of many talent scouts.
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Career
In order to gain more experience, Pierre joined ‘Dijon’ team in France. At the age of 18, he turned out to be one of the leading goal scorers for his team in ‘Coupe de la Ligue’ and he was further loaned out to ‘Lille’ and ‘Monaco.’ In 2011, he was signed for the first major deal of his career.
In December 2011, ‘Saint Etienne’ signed him for a permanent deal and by February 2012, Pierre proved his worth by scoring a hat-trick against the opponent team ‘Lorient.’ By the end of the ‘Coupe de la Ligue,’ he was the top scorer with 16 goals; he had scored half of the goals scored by his team. He ended up winning the 2013 ‘Ligue’ for his team and finished the championship with 18 goals and seven assists.
His successful streak further continued in the next season as well and he finished as the second top goal scorer at the end of the tournament. He scored 19 goals in 37 games that he played in. This turned out to be the definitive season of his career and he was selected as the ‘Ligue’s African Player of the Year.’ This got him further fame in the European club circuit and he decided to play with ‘Borussia Dortmund.’
He made his debut for Dortmund in July 2013 in a competitive match against ‘Bayern Munich’ in ‘DFL-Supercup.’ In his Bundesliga debut against ‘FC Augsburg,’ he scored a winning hat-trick. This also made him the first Gabonese player to ever play in Bundesliga. He ended the year with 16 goals in total and 13 league goals, which was an above average performance at best.
For the 2014-15 season, Pierre scored 25 goals in 46 games, and assisted his team in reaching the 2015 ‘DFB-Pokal’ final. In July 2015, he extended his contract with his team until 2020 and announced that he has developed an emotional connection with the team and that he would never want to leave it.
By September, Pierre had become the first ever player in the history of Bundesliga to score goals in first six consecutive matches. He further continued scoring goals in two more matches and carried on the super form in the UEFA Europa League. He scored a hat-trick against ‘Gabala FK’ in October and within a few days, he scored another hat-trick against ‘Augsburg.’
Halfway through the Bundesliga 2015, Pierre was the top scorer in the tournament with 18 goals in his first 17 games. By the end of the Bundesliga season, Pierre emerged as the second top scorer with 25 goals.
His electrifying form continued in the 2016-17 season as he debuted in the Bundeliga 2016 against ‘Mainz’ with two goals, leading his team to victory. In the ‘Champions League,’ he scored in each game of the first leg but was surprisingly taken off the team for a match against ‘Sporting CP.’ It was later revealed that he had broken some rules and his suspension from the team was a disciplinary measure.
In his comeback game, he performed brilliantly and scored four goals helping his team crush ‘Hamburger SV.’ In March 2017, he finished the tally of 20 Bundesliga goals, his second feat in a row. By the end of the league, he was Bundesliga’s top scorer with 31 goals. By now, it became very clear that he would be soon acquired by a Premier League team.
In January 2018, ‘Arsenal’ acquired him for an undisclosed fee, which also happens to be a club record. It has been rumoured that he was bought for 56 million pounds.
He was approached by Italy to play in their U19 team, but Pierre decided to go with the French Under-21 team. In March 2009, however, he signed up with the Gabon national team and helped his national team in reaching the quarter finals of the 2012 ‘Africa Cup of Nations.’ In July 2012, he further represented his team at the London Summer Olympics.
Personal Life
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is in a relationship with Alysha, and he has a son, Curtys, with her.
Apart from football, Pierre also happens to be highly competitive sprinter. He has a record of running 30 metres in 3.7 seconds, which is said to be better than ‘world’s fastest man’ Usain Bolt. Pierre has been challenged by German sprinter Julian Reus for a 100 meter race, but Pierre hasn’t yet accepted the challenge.
He happens to be a major fan of sports cars and comic books. During one of his Bundesliga victories, after scoring a goal, he celebrated with putting a Spider-Man mask on.
