Bakary Soro (born 5 December 1985) is a Burkinabé 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 le ...

who recently played as a defender for

Şanlıurfaspor Şanlıurfa S.K. is a Turkish sports club located in Şanlıurfa. The football team currently plays in the TFF Second League TFF 2. Lig (Turkish Football Federation Second League), is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It wa ...

. He has represented the Ivory Coast at under-20 level and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

in an exhibition game.

Career

Soro was raised in

Anyama Anyama is a city in south-eastern Ivory Coast. It is a suburb of Abidjan and is one of four sub-prefectures of Abidjan Autonomous District. Anyama is also a commune. The city is located about 20 kilometres north of Abidjan. Villages in the sub-p ...

, the same

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

suburb as Ivorian internationals Arouna and

Bakari Koné Bakari Koné (born 17 September 1981) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a winger. Club career Early career Koné was born in Abidjan. Like many other Ivorian stars, he began his career at the famed youth academy at A ...

, and in similar fashion to the latter, began his career at homeland club

ASEC Mimosas The Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas, literally Mimosas Commerce Employees' Sporting Association, is an Côte d'Ivoire, Ivorian Association football, football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Mimosas A ...

, coming through their famed

Académie de Sol Beni The Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas, literally Mimosas Commerce Employees' Sporting Association, is an Ivorian football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Mimosas Abidjan'' and ''ASEC Abidjan'', espec ...

youth academy, run by

Jean-Marc Guillou Jean-Marc Guillou (born 20 December 1945) is a French football coach and former player, who played at the 1978 World Cup. Club career Guillou was born in Bouaye, Loire-Atlantique. He played for Angers SCO, OGC Nice, Neuchâtel Xamax, FC Mulhou ...

, before moving on to the ASEC first team. Soro's success did not go unnoticed, as he was called up to the Ivorian senior side for the

2008 African 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 ...

qualifier against

Gabon Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north ...

on 5 October 2006, along with fellow ASEC player

Didier Ya Konan Didier Ya Konan (born 22 May 1984) is an Ivorian former footballer who played as a forward for the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Born in Angouakro, Ya Konan started his professional career with ASEC Mimosas in 2003, a club that i ...

. The team won 5–0, although Soro was an unused substitute. In November 2006, it was reported that Soro and Ya Konan had been granted trials with English

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

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

, with the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based side eventually signing him. In January 2007, Soro signed a loan deal with

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

club

Germinal Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Antwerpen Club (), simply known as Beerschot AC, was a Belgian football club based in southern Antwerp. Beerschot played in the Belgian Pro League from 1999–2000 (as Germinal Beerschot) until 2012–13, when they were ...

, going on to make four appearances. In August 2007, Soro moved to French

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. A ...

side

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

, establishing himself in the first team for the 2008–09 season. Soro left Lorient in September 2009 to join

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

on a free transfer in December 2009.

International career

Soro represented the Ivory Coast at the

2005 African Youth Championship The 2005 African Youth Championship was an international football competition that took place between 15 and 29 January 2005. The tournament was hosted by Benin and also served as qualification for the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship. Qualifi ...

and was named captain during the tournament. He played in games against Mali, Benin and Nigeria as Ivory Coast were eliminated at the group stage. Soro later switched international allegiance to

and participated in an exhibition game in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

against Gabon on 6 September 2010. He came on as a second-half substitute, making his debut under controversial Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte; Duarte gave international debuts to several non-Burkinabé players during his time as Burkina Faso head coach. In 2012, it was announced that Burkina Faso had named Soro in their provisional squad for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized ...

References

Alanyaspor'da 4 imza!
fanatik.com.tr, 15 January 2016

Career

International career

References

External links