Raphaël Éric Messi Bouli (born 23 April 1992), or simply Messi Bouli or Messi B, is a Cameroonian 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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Chinese second division club

Nanjing City Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

and represented the Cameroon national team.

Club career

Bouli started his career in Cameroon with FAP Yaoundé in 2013. A year later, he signed for

Canon Yaoundé Canon Sportif de Yaoundé, commonly known as Canon Yaoundé, is a Cameroonian association football club based in capital city of Yaoundé. The club was formed in 1930 and play their games at Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo. Their most successful period was ...

where he remained for the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and 2015 Elite One seasons. 2016 saw Bouli join APEJES, with whom he won the 2016 Cameroonian Cup with. In

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, Bouli scored fourteen goals in twenty-four league fixtures. On 1 March 2018, Bouli joined

China League One The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League. Prior to the formation of ...

side

Yanbian Funde Yanbian Funde F.C. () was a Chinese football club. The team was based in Yanji, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin province where their home stadium is the Yanji Nationwide Fitness Centre Stadium that has a seating capacity of 30,000. ...

. He made his debut against Nei Mongol Zhongyou on 1 April, prior to netting in back-to-back matches in May versus

Qingdao Huanghai Qingdao Football Club () was a professional Chinese football club that participated in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Qingdao and their home stadium was the Qingdao Gu ...

and

Zhejiang Greentown Zhejiang Professional Football Club (), commonly referred to as Zhejiang FC or simply Zhejiang, is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CF ...

respectively. Bouli moved to Iran to play for

Foolad Foolad Khuzestan Football Club ( fa, باشگاه فوتبال فولاد خوزستان, ''Bāshgāh-e Futbāl-e Fulād-e Khuzestān'') is an Iranian football club, based in Ahwaz, Khuzestan that plays in Persian Gulf Pro League. Foolad F.C. ...

of the Persian Gulf Pro League in 2019. Bouli departed Foolad in June 2019, after scoring one goal (against Esteghlal Khuzestan) in twelve games for the Iranian club. In the months following his departure, Bouli threatened to complain to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, along with then-manager Afshin Ghotbi and former teammate

Takafumi Akahoshi is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Career In 2010, Akahoshi joined Latvian side Liepājas Metalurgs. Soon after joining the team, he became a vital figure in its starting eleven and made several excellent a ...

, regarding unpaid wages. On 24 August, Bouli completed a move to India with

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

team Kerala Blasters. He scored eight goals for them, which included a brace over

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East Singhbhum district. It ...

on 13 December. September 2020 saw Bouli return to Chinese football as he agreed terms with League One team

Heilongjiang Lava Spring Heilongjiang Ice City Football Club (), previously known as Heilongjiang Lava Spring Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the China League One division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CF ...

. In April 2021, Messi Bouli joined

. As of December 7, 2021, he scored 13 goals and provided 5 assists in 29 appearances for the club.from soccerway

International career

Bouli made his international debut on 10 August 2013, playing in a 2014 African Nations Championship qualifier with

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 ...

. Years later, he scored his first goal in

2018 African Nations Championship The 2018 African Nations Championship, known as the Total African Nations Championship (also referred to as CHAN 2018) was the 5th edition of the African Nations Championship, a biennial football tournament organized by the Confederation of Afric ...

qualifying in a game with

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe (; pt, São Tomé e Príncipe (); English: " Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe ( pt, República Democrática de São Tomé e Príncipe), is a Portuguese-speaking i ...

. In November 2017, Bouli was selected by the national team for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against

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

. However, he failed to feature after remaining on the bench for a 2–2 draw. Months later, Bouli was called up to the squad for the

in Morocco. He featured in matches against

Congo Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

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 ...

as Cameroon were eliminated at the group stages.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of 14 July 2019. Cameroon score listed first.''

Honours

;APEJES *

Cameroonian Cup The Cameroon Cup is the national football competition in Cameroon, on a knock-out-basis. Cup Finals Before independence * 1941 : Caïman de Douala 6-0 Mikado ASTP * 1942 : Caïman de Douala 3-1 Léopards Douala * 1943 : Caïman de Douala * 194 ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bouli, Raphaël Messi 1992 births Living people Footballers from Yaoundé Cameroonian men's footballers Cameroon men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Iran Expatriate men's footballers in India Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in China Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Iran Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in India Elite One players China League One players Persian Gulf Pro League players Canon Yaoundé players APEJES Academy players Yanbian Funde F.C. players Foolad F.C. players Kerala Blasters FC players Heilongjiang Ice City F.C. players Liaoning Shenyang Urban F.C. players Nanjing City F.C. players Cameroon men's A' international footballers 2018 African Nations Championship players