Laurent Pokou

Laurent Pokou
Personnel
birthday	August 10, 1947
place of birth	Abidjan ,  Ivory Coast
date of death	November 13, 2016
Place of death	Abidjan ,  Ivory Coast
size	178 cm
position	striker
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
0000-1965	USFRAN Bouaké
1966-1973	ASEC Abidjan
1974-1976	Rennes stadium	63 (44)
1976-1988	AS Nancy	19 0(3)
1978-1979	Rennes stadium	12 0(6)
1979-1981	ASEC Abidjan
1982-1983	Rio Sport Anyama
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
	Ivory Coast
1 Only league games are given.

Laurent Pokou (born August 10, 1947 in Abidjan ; † November 13, 2016 there ) was an Ivorian football player .

Pokou has been named the African Cup of Nations top scorer twice. He met six times in Ethiopia in 1968 and eight times in Sudan in 1970 ; he scored five of the goals in a single game when the Ivory Coast beat Ethiopia 6-1. This game earned him the nickname "l'homme d'Asmara" ('the man from Asmara '). With 14 goals he remained the record goal scorer of the continental tournament for 38 years until Samuel Eto'o from Cameroon initially equaled the number of hits during the African Cup of Nations 2008 in Ghana and then surpassed him with goals 15 and 16 on January 30, 2008. He was one of the best strikers at Stade Rennes and the Ivory Coast.

Until his death, Pokou was involved in various projects to promote sport, youth or peace, for example for the SOS Children's Villages.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Le football ivoirien en deuil: Laurent Pokou, l'homme d'Asmara, n'est plus. (No longer available online.) Fraternité Matin, November 13, 2016, archived from the original on November 16, 2016 ; Retrieved November 14, 2016 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Description of Pokous and interview with him (French)
• Laurent Pokou in the database of National-Football-Teams.com (English)