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Ex-goalkeeper for Ivory Coast's golden generation has joined Lokeren as goalkeeping coach for the first team
Ivory Coast legend and Africa Cup of Nations winner Boubacar “Copa” Barry has rejoined his former club Lokeren, this time as a goalkeeping coach for the Belgian side.
The legend of Boubacar Barry
Barry is something of a legend in Lokeren, having spent most of his professional career with the club, making 268 appearances in the 10 years he spent there between 2007 and 2017.
In what was his final performance for the national team, Barry saved two penalties in the 2015 AFCON final to help the Ivory Coast win its second-ever AFCON title, making him an African Champion and immortalizing his name in Ivorian folklore.
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Since retiring in 2017, the former Elephants of Ivory Coast goalkeeper has been active on the sidelines and has served as the goalkeeping coach for both the Gent U21 team and another former club, OH Leuven.
Barry will join the club, now called KSC Lokeren-Temse after a merger with KSV Temse following bankruptcy, immediately with the aim of helping the team prepare for the restart of the Belgian Division 2 season.
Barry Copa to resume immediately
In a statement released by the club, they welcomed Barry to the club while bidding farewell to the man he replaced, Bjorn Uyttendaele, who has been with the club since 2020.
“Sporting Lokeren-Temse will start part two of this season with a new goalkeeper trainer.
“As of today, Tuesday, December 27, Barry Boubacar Copa will take charge of the A-core goalkeepers. Sporting's former goalkeeper succeeds Bjorn Uyttendaele, who has worked for the first team since October 2020.
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“Barry Copa does not need an introduction, because with more than 250 matches in the shirt of our Tricolores and two cup victories on the palmares, the Ivorian can safely be called a legend of Sporting Lokeren.”
Barry joins the likes of the Toure brothers Yaya and Kolo, as another of Ivory Coast’s golden generation who is trying their hands out at some form of coaching or the other.
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