Boubacar "Copa" Barry (born 30 December 1979) is an Ivorian 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, rugb ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. Having begun his career at

ASEC Mimosas 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'', especi ...

, he moved to France in 2001, where he played for Rennes' reserve team. In 2003, he joined Belgian side

Beveren Beveren () is a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') is in Beveren ...

where he stayed four years. He then spent ten years at

K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen Koninklijke Sporting Club Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen (; often simply called Sporting Lokeren or Lokeren) was a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Lokeren, in the province of East Flanders. The club was founded in 1923 but ceas ...

amassing 239 league appearances. At international level, he represented the Ivory Coast national team before his retirement from international football in March 2015, but continued to play for his club, Lokeren. Exactly four years after his international retirement, Barry retired also professionally as a player in March 2019.

Club career

Barry scored a penalty for Lokeren in the 2011–12 season, in a 4–0 win against Westerlo. He won the Belgian Cup with Lokeren in the same season as well as in the 2013–14 season. When his contract at Lokeren ran out, he was signed by

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League (previously known as ''1B Pro League'') is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First Division A. It was created by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 201 ...

team

Oud-Heverlee Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, '' ...

, where he was part of the squad during the 2017–18 and 2018–19 season as backup goalkeeper, but was effectively employed as goalkeeping coach. He retired from playing on 2 March 2019, although at that point in time he had not played a match for over two years.

International career

Barry was called up to the

2006 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 the ...

as part of the Ivory Coast national team. He appeared in the final group match against

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

on 22 June 2006, which Ivory Coast won 3–2. He started all three matches for the Ivory Coast in

Group G Group G may refer to: * A set of international motor racing regulations used in touring car racing * One of eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group G ** 2018 FIFA World Cup Group G ** 2014 FIFA Wor ...

in 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 ...

. He earned clean sheets against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

. He was the first-choice goalkeeper for the Elephants'

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from ...

campaign as they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the second round, following an injury-time defeat to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

2015 Africa Cup of Nations

Barry was called up to the Ivory Coast squad for the

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

held in Equatorial Guinea. He was benched for most of the tournament in favour of his younger teammate

Sylvain Gbohouo Guelassiognon Sylvain Gbohouo (born 29 October 1988) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ethiopian Premier League club Wolkite City and the Ivory Coast national team. International career Gbohouo made his debu ...

, but went on to play in the final following Gbohouo's injury in the semi-final. It was his second appearance in the showpiece event having been in goal in the 2012 final against

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

; a match that the Ivory Coast lost 7–8 on penalties after the game finished 0–0. The 2015 final finished goalless after normal and extra-time, and Barry emerged as the hero by saving two penalties and scoring the winning penalty, overcoming a cramp in the process. A month later, on 2 March 2015, he retired from international football.

Career statistics

Club

*1.Includes Belgian Pro League playoffs *2.Includes the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

*3.Includes

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champio ...

International

Honours

Lokeren *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2011–12 Belgian Cup, 2011–12, 2013–14 Belgian Cup, 2013–14 Ivory Coast * Africa Cup of Nations: 2015 Individual * Belgian Goalkeeper of the Year: 2008–09

References

External links

*
Profile and stats
- Lokeren {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Boubacar 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Abidjan Ivorian people of Guinean descent Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Association football goalkeepers Ivorian footballers Ivorian expatriate footballers Ivory Coast international footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Belgium Belgian First Division A players Belgian First Division B players Ligue 1 players ASEC Mimosas players Stade Rennais F.C. players K.S.K. Beveren players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players 2002 African Cup of Nations players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players Africa Cup of Nations-winning players Oud-Heverlee Leuven non-playing staff Ivorian football managers Association football goalkeeping coaches