Boye
Cooper's Body In Monrovia
By Julu M. Johnson, Jr.
By Julu M. Johnson, Jr.
The Youth and Sports Ministry says the body of the late
veteran goalkeeper Boye Cooper is now in Monrovia.
According to a press release, the body was flown home
on Sunday, July 4, 2004.
The body is currently placed at the St. Moses
Funeral Parlous in Gardnersville ahead of burial.
Cooper, popularly known as Dino Zoff, died at the Oru Refugees Camp
in Nigeria.
The former Mighty Barrolle and Invincible Eleven
(IE) goaltender died from a brief illness during the early hours of
Thursday, June 3, 2004 at precisely 1:36 A.M.
This painful event has not only struck a deep
blow on his bereaved family, it also serves as a sad moment for
Liberian Soccer because Boye Cooper, his life, and his service to
Liberia will forever be remembered whenever Liberian soccer is
mentioned.
Boye Cooper started his earthly journey in
1957 at Zinc Camp, Sinkor on the suburb of Monrovia. While still a
soccer youth he demonstrated exceptional flair for preventing the
round leather from passing through the goal post. Boye proved a
mighty possibility as a soccer hero when he was still a student at
the St. Samuels High School and the Wells-Hairston High School.
Though "Dino Zoff" began his soccer career at a
very early age, one of his first notable moves to soccer fame was
when he joined the Eleven Rollers Football Club in 1971.
In 1976, Cooper donned the colors of the "Show Boys" or
the Cedar United Football Club. He remained at Cedar until 1977.
From Cedar, Boye Cooper made a brief stop at the St. Joseph Warriors
Football Club (The Catholic Boys).
His major leap to the realm of soccer supremacy began
in 1979 when he joined the Mighty Barrolle Football Club where his
brilliant performances made him a household name.
Based upon his splendid performances at the club level,
he was called to national duty in 1980 to man the post of the Lone
Star of Liberia. Boye Cooper proved his nationalism even in soccer
as he gave his entire energy and substance in ensuring victory for
the Lone Star of Liberia.
Some of his monumental performances with the Lone Star
were the Liberia-Mauritania match which ended 3-0 in the favor Lone
Star in 1984.
In the same year, he kept the Lone Star post in an
annual soccer tournament hosted by the Malaysian FA.
At this tournament, Liberia and Algeria represented
Africa. Liberia was placed in group with Brazil. Liberia lost 2-3 to
Brazil, but "Dino" was at his very best.
Between 1983 and 1985, he captained the "Mighty
Roller", making headways in the African Cup Winners Cup and led his
team to capturing the Liberian Football Association Cup in 1984.
One of his spectacular performances with the Rollers was against
Hopper Jerusalem (an Israelite professional club) in 1985.
Having carved a niche for himself with The Rollers, he
moved over to the Invincible Eleven (I.E) Football Club, the major
archrival of the Rollers on the Liberian Soccer landscape, in 1985
and again won kudos for himself as a life wire of the Yellow Boys.
During his sojourn with the Invincible Eleven his most notable
matches were the IE-Royal Armed Forces of Morocco match in Rabat in
1987 and the IE-Raja Casablanca Match when Boye Cooper saved the
Yellow Boys from imminent defeat.
While still active and highly adored in the Liberian
soccer setting, he traveled to Hamburg, Germany in 1988 to attend a
soccer academy, all in an effort to improve on his already enviable
record and to advance his technical knowledge in soccer.
Upon his return in 1990, he was forced to flee to
Guinea as a result of the Liberian civil conflict. Being a refugee
could not stop his passion for the game as he was soon to head the
coaching team of an American company soccer team in Guinea between
1990 and 1993.
From Guinea he moved to Ivory Coast where he coached
ULIB, a Liberian soccer team based in Abidjan from 1993 to 1995.
His desire to take his coaching career to higher
heights led him to Nigeria in 1995. After properly acclimatizing to
the Nigerian soccer atmosphere, he landed at Zabgai F.C of Bauchi
State (a 3rd Division team) as head coach from 1999 to 2003. During
his tenure at Bauchi he promoted Zabgai F.C. to Division 2 during
the 1999 season and proudly landed her to the runners up position of
the state's FA Challenge Cup in 2002. After a job well accomplished
at Zabgai F.C, he resigned with honor in 2003.
Until his death "Dino Zoff" served as one of the most
senior coaches of the Refugees Sports Association in Nigeria along
with Jokar Wreahcar, Sayon Davies, Waka Harron, Samuel N. Cooper and
Kennedy Musue.
Boye Cooper was married with two children.
|
Please Click our Sponsors
Links to support the site
|
