LONDON -- Emmanuel Adebayor is Togo's best soccer player, the man who led the small west African country to its first World Cup appearance last year. He also plays for Arsenal, one of the world's most famous clubs.

Despite Adebayor's popularity in his homeland and among Arsenal fans, he received death threats Saturday before Togo played Sierra Leone in an African Cup of Nations qualifier.

Adebayor has recently been the object of controversy in his home country for allegedly encouraging his teammates to make exorbitant demands on the Togo Football Federation.

The threat should not be taken lightly.

In many poor nations, stars often command large sums of money to compete for the national team. And Adebayor, who scored two goals and set up the third in the 3-1 win over visiting Sierra Leone, has as much right to ask for money as any of Italy's or England's players do for taking part in major tournaments.

"Thank God I scored two goals," Adebayor said. "I do not know what will happen to me if I had not scored those goals."

Adebayor will head to London to resume playing for Arsenal in the Premier League. And with two away games in the next two qualifiers, he could stay away from Togo until early September.

"I am going back to Arsenal in London to reflect and think about my future. I have to protect my life. I have a family to look after," Adebayor said.

Born to Nigerian parents, the 23-year-old forward easily is Togo's marquee athlete in the world of sports. He led his team in scoring during World Cup qualifiers, but his relationship with the national team started to deteriorate at last year's African Cup in Egypt.

Togo opened the African tournament with a loss to Congo, and then dropped another to Cameroon to become the first World Cup qualifier eliminated.

Adebayor, who had signed for Arsenal from AS Monaco before the tournament, refused to play against Congo following a feud with coach Stephen Keshi, although he did come on as substitute in the second half of the 2-0 loss. He then threatened to leave the African Cup of Nations, only to play down the threat later.

"He can go," Togo captain Jean-Paul Abalo said at the time. "He didn't just betray his team, he betrayed the Togolese people."

In their last group match, Togo lost to Angola -- another first-time World Cup qualifier.

At the World Cup in Germany, with Otto Pfister as coach, Adebayor was welcomed back into the team. But Pfister quit before Togo's opening match because of a pay dispute, then returned in time to lead the team against South Korea. The Sparrow Hawks took a 1-0 lead before losing 2-1. They then lost to Switzerland and France, both by 2-0. And in the three losses, Adebayor failed to shine.

But despite all the troubles and controversies surrounding both Adebayor and Togo, a death threat cannot be discarded these days.

And with any luck, Adebayor's tormentors will be exposed before they have a chance to do any harm.