- Basile Boli
Football player infobox| playername= Basile Boli
fullname = Basile Boli
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1967|1|2
cityofbirth =Abidjan
countryofbirth =Côte d'Ivoire
height = height|m=1.80
currentclub =
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1982-1990 1990-1994 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996-1997
clubs = Auxerre Marseille Rangers MonacoUrawa Red Diamonds
caps(goals) = 252 0(4) 163 (27) 028 0(2) 011 0(0) 032 0(2)
nationalyears = 1986-1993
nationalteam = France
nationalcaps(goals) = 045 0(1)Basile Boli (born
January 2 1967 ) is a French former footballer and current television sports presenter.Although born in
Abidjan ,Côte d'Ivoire , Boli moved to France at an early age and began his career in local youth football inParis before signing forAJ Auxerre in 1982. A powerful defender, Boli soon made his way into the Auxerre first team and soon made his debut for the French national team in 1986 (going on to win 45 caps altogether). His form meant that he soon became a transfer target for the leading clubs in France. Finally in 1990 Boli signed forOlympique de Marseille who, underBernard Tapie , were fast becoming the leading club in France. Boli starred as the club wonLigue 1 in 1991 and 1992 and was also a regular in theUEFA Champions League 1992-93 campaign, topping the season off by scoring the only goal of the final againstA.C. Milan that gave the cup to OM. Whilst at the club he even joined team mateChris Waddle in recording a song entitled 'We've Got a Feeling' [http://www.bide-et-musique.com/artist/511.html] . He is remembered by football fans inEngland for his appearance for France against the England team in Euro 92 where heheadbutt ed notorious 'hard man'Stuart Pearce [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/euro_2004/england/3659307.stm] .Despite this success Boli was forced to leave Marseille in 1994 following revelations of a match fixing scandal and the relegation of the club. He signed for
Rangers F.C. for £2 million in the summer of that year and went to make 28 league appearances (2 goals) during the 1994-95 season, securing a league winners' medal. Boli left Rangers at the end of that season and wound down his career with a season back in France withAS Monaco FC before ending his career in 1997 after a spell inJapan withUrawa Red Diamonds Since retiring from football Boli has become involved in politics as a supporter of
Nicolas Sarkozy .Family
Basile is the uncle of
Paris Saint Germain playerYannick Boli .External links
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=7844 Profile of Rangers career]
* [http://poll.imdb.com/name/nm1827292/ Basile Boli at IMDB]
* [http://www.national-football-teams.com/php/spieler.php?id=15547 National Football Teams]
* [http://www.basilebolievenements.com Basile Boli Evénements]
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