Etienne Arthur Boka (born 2 April 1983) 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, rugby ...

who played as a left back for the Ivory Coast national team. At club level, he plays for Atlético de Marbella in the seventh-tier

Primera Andaluza Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

. He was a part of the Ivory Coast squads at two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s and five Africa Cups of Nations between 2006 and 2013. Boka is known for his lightning pace even though he is a man of a very small build.

Club career

Like many successful players from Ivory Coast, he started his career at homeland club ASEC Abidjan, after coming through their much famed youth system, that has also produced players such as

Kolo Touré Kolo Abib Touré (born 19 March 1981) is an Ivorian professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Championship side Wigan Athletic. He played as a defender for Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Celtic and the Ivory Co ...

Emmanuel Eboué Emmanuel Eboué (born 4 June 1983) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a right back. Formed at ASEC Mimosas, he moved to Europe to play for Belgium's Beveren in 2002. He spent most of his career, from 2005 to 2011, with A ...

, and

Aruna Dindane Aruna Dindane (born 26 November 1980) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He has 62 caps and 17 goals for the Ivory Coast since his debut in 2000, and has played at four Africa Cup of Nations and two FIFA Wor ...

. He joined the club after walking in from the streets of Ivory Coast capital

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...

and asking for a trial. Following his graduation from the academy he moved on to Belgian club K.S.K. Beveren in 2002, where impressive performances earned him a transfer to the then Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg in France for the 2004–05 season. He impressed further at Strasbourg, but following their relegation at the end of the 2005–06 season he left to join German top-flight club

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

. His impressive attack minded play from his left-back position have earned him the nickname of "The African

Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos da Silva Rocha (born 10 April 1973), commonly known as Roberto Carlos, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who now works as a football ambassador. He started his career in Brazil as a forward but spent most of his car ...

". In the 2006–07 season Boka won the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

title with

. On 14 January 2009 he extended his contract at VfB Stuttgart until the summer of 2012. On 30 May 2012, Boka signed a new one-year contract with an option for a further year at VfB Stuttgart. Boka used to be playing as left back, but in the middle of

2012–13 Bundesliga The 2012–13 Bundesliga was the 50th season of the Bundesliga, Germany's premier football league. The season began on 24 August 2012 with the season opening match at Westfalenstadion involving defending champions Borussia Dortmund and SV Werder ...

season he began playing as

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. On 1 May 2014, Boka agreed a transfer to Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

side Málaga CF, signing a two-year deal with the

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

ns. He made his debut in the competition on 29 August, starting in a 0–3 away loss against

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

. He joined Swiss team

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

in July 2016 but left in February 2017 after just three Super League appearances.

International career

Boka has 72

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the Ivory Coast, scored one goal, and 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 ...

, where he played all three group games for the Elephants, where he performed impressively, gaining one assist. He was also called up to the

2010 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 ...

, where he played the final group match against

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 ...

gaining two assists. He represented Ivory Coast in the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations and was also part of the Ivorian squad at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana. Boka was also called up for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations and 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 ...

. With Ivory Coast, Boka reached the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2012, but they were beaten on penalties on both occasions.

Career statistics

International goals

Honours

Club

Beveren *

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 ...

runner-up: 2003–04 Strasbourg * Coupe de la Ligue: 2004–05 VfB Stuttgart *

winner: 2006–07 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

runner-up: 2006–07,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

International

Ivory Coast * Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2006, 2010

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boka, Arthur 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Abidjan Ivorian footballers Association football defenders ASEC Mimosas players K.S.K. Beveren players Belgian Pro League players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Ligue 1 players VfB Stuttgart players Bundesliga players Málaga CF players La Liga players FC Sion players Swiss Super League players Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Ivorian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Germany Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Spain Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Ivory Coast international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2012 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players