Yannick Toapri Boli (born 13 January 1988) is a French 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 ...

. His previous clubs include

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

and Bulgarian

Chernomorets Chernomorets ( bg, Черноморец ) is a town on the Black Sea coast of southeastern Bulgaria. Administratively part of Sozopol Municipality, Burgas Province, Chernomorets is a popular seaside resort. Chernomorets lies some southeast of t ...

. He is the nephew of former France national team player

Basile Boli Basile Boli (born 2 January 1967) is a Ivorian-born French former professional footballer who played as a defender, and a current television sports presenter. He spent the majority of his career with Auxerre and Marseille before ending his ca ...

and

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

striker

Roger Boli Roger Zokou Boli (born 26 September 1965) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward for clubs in the French and British leagues. Born in Ivory Coast, he represented France at youth level. He is currently a sports agent. Caree ...

Career

Club

Born in

Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Saint-Maur-des-Fossés () is a commune in Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southea ...

, Boli began his playing career with

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 PSG, joining them when he was eleven years old. He was part of the side's B team from 2005–07. In 2006, he helped their under-18s side to win the French Under-18 Championship and in his last season, he was a top scorer. On 6 May 2008, he scored a 77th-minute winner against

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

side

Amiens SC Amiens Sporting Club (; commonly referred to as Amiens SC or simply Amiens) is a French association football club based in the northern city of Amiens in the Hauts-de-France region. The club was formed in 1901 and play in Ligue 2, the second d ...

, in the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

to send PSG into the final, where he was an unused substitute as they lost 1–0 to

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. On playing for PSG, Boli said, ''"PSG are the club of my dreams and I joined when I was 11. The fact that I'm now playing here with the first team gives me immense pride."'' Boli was loaned to newly promoted Ligue 1 side

Le Havre AC Le Havre Athletic Club (; commonly referred to as Le Havre) is a French association football club based in Le Havre, Normandy. The club was founded as an athletics and rugby club in 1872, making Le Havre AC the oldest professional French foo ...

on 18 October 2008 until the end of the 2008–09 season, making his debut seven days later in a 2–1 home win over

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

Stade Jules Deschaseaux Stade Jules Deschaseaux is a multi-purpose stadium in Le Havre, France. It is used mostly for football matches. The stadium is able to hold 16,400 people and was built in 1932. It hosted one match at the 1938 FIFA World Cup between Czechoslova ...

. He made a total of eleven league appearances, before returning to PSG in July 2009. On 19 August 2009, Boli joined English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on trial, with

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

reporting that he could be about to sign a one-year loan deal with ''the Seasiders''. Boli said, "I am happy to be here in England, hopefully it (the move) will happen for me." The ''

Blackpool Gazette The ''Blackpool Gazette'' (locally marketed as simply ''The Gazette'') is an English daily newspaper based in Blackpool, Lancashire. Published every day except Sunday, it covers the towns and communities of the Fylde coast. It was founded as '' ...

'' then claimed it was unlikely Boli would sign, however ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' reported that he was expected to move to Blackpool on loan after a medical planned for 24 August. In September 2011, Boli joined London based football agency Pro Sports Agency. He signed with

Bulgarian A PFG The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

club Chernomorets Burgas in February 2012 after a one-week trial period. On 18 February 2013, he was sold to Ukrainian side

Zorya Luhansk FC Zorya Luhansk ( uk, ФК «Зоря» Луганськ ) is a Ukrainian football team. Zorya Luhansk is based in the city of Luhansk, Ukraine. However, because of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the team play their games at Slavutych-Arena in Zapori ...

for a fee of 300.000 €. He signed a two-year contract. On 29 August 2014, Boli was announced as an

Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб «Анжи́» Махачкала́, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded ...

player, signing a four-year contract. In November 2014, Boli was awarded Best Goal of the month and awarded the 1FNL Best Players on the Football National League official website. After joining the club, managed by Sergei Tashuyev, Boli was introduced very slowly into the starting lineup. On his first game against SKA-Energia, he came on as a substitute player for just on 28 minutes. He has scored 26 goals in 62 appearances for the

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

based FC Anzhi Makhachkala. On 16 January 2017, Boli signed a two and half years contract with

UAE Arabian Gulf League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al O ...

club

Al Ain FC Al Ain Football Club ( ar, نادي العين لكرة القدم; transliterated: Nady al-'Ayn) or Al Ain FC or simply Al Ain is a professional football club, based in the city of Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is one of many spo ...

. On 18 January 2017, Al Ain decided to void the contract after "additional demands were made by Anzhi and Boli". On 24 February 2017, Boli joined Chinese side

Dalian Yifang Dalian Professional Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning, that participates in the China Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). Their home stadium is Dalian Sport ...

, and scored 16 goals to promote the team to

2018 Chinese Super League The 2018 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League () was the 15th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The league title sponsor was Ping An Insurance. Shanghai SIPG won their first top-tier league titles on 7 Novemb ...

. On 15 March 2018, Boli signed a one-year deal with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

. Boli joined

Thai League 1 The Thai League 1 ( th, ไทยลีก 1), often referred to as T1, is the top level of the Thai football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Thai League 2. Seasons run from August ...

club Ratchaburi Mitr Phol F.C. in the 2019 season. He scored a debut hat-trick on 22 February 2019.

International

Boli holds dual French and Ivorian nationality. In 2008, ahead of the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in China, he chose to represent the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. "I'm lucky enough to have dual Franco-Ivorian nationality and I'm proud of my African roots," he said. "I've followed the Elephants a lot in the last few years and I feel there's an interesting situation there. Because of that, I didn't hesitate in choosing that country's shirt." In March 2008, he was called up by manager

Gérard Gili Gérard Gili (born 7 August 1952) is a French football manager and former player. Gili's highest profile appointment was as manager of Ivory Coast. He was named as the Ivorians' head coach in January 2008, following the resignation of Ulrich St ...

to the Ivory Coast Olympics team.

Personal life

Yannick is the oldest brother of

Kévin Boli Kévin Gnonher Boli (born 21 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays for Romanian Liga I club Farul Constanța. Primarily a centre-back, he can also play as a full back. After starting his professional career with Sedan in the Fre ...

and nephew of former

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and French

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

defender

, and former

striker

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Dalian Yifang *

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 ...

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 ...

References

External links

* *
Yannick Boli
on

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boli, Yannick 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Saint-Maur-des-Fossés Association football forwards Citizens of Ivory Coast through descent Ivorian footballers Ivory Coast international footballers French footballers French sportspeople of Ivorian descent Footballers from Val-de-Marne Ivorian expatriate footballers French expatriate footballers Paris Saint-Germain F.C. players Le Havre AC players Nîmes Olympique players PFC Chernomorets Burgas players FC Zorya Luhansk players FC Anzhi Makhachkala players Dalian Professional F.C. players Colorado Rapids players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Ukrainian Premier League players Russian Premier League players China League One players Expatriate footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer players Boli family

Yannick Boli Yannick Toapri Boli (born 13 January 1988) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, forward. His previous clubs include Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain, Le Ha ...