Wilfried Bony facts for kids
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Bony with Swansea City in 2013
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 10 December 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bingerville, Ivory Coast | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m | ||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Striker | ||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2002 | Maracanã Bingerville | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2005 | Cyril Domoraud Academy | ||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2008 | Issia Wazy | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | → Sparta Prague B (loan) | 14 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2011 | Sparta Prague | 59 | (22) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2013 | Vitesse | 65 | (46) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Swansea City | 54 | (25) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Manchester City | 36 | (6) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | → Stoke City (loan) | 10 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Swansea City | 22 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | → Al-Arabi (loan) | 7 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Al-Ittihad | 10 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | NEC Nijmegen | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2023 | Always Ready | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||
| National team‡ | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2019 | Ivory Coast | 56 | (16) | ||||||||||||||||
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Honours
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† Appearances (Goals). |
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Wilfried Guemiand Bony (born 10 December 1988) is a football player from Ivory Coast. He plays as a striker, which means he tries to score goals.
Wilfried Bony started his career in Ivory Coast. He then moved to Europe, playing for clubs like Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic and Vitesse in the Netherlands. He became a top scorer in the Dutch league. Later, he joined Premier League teams Swansea City and Manchester City.
He also played for his country, Ivory Coast. He helped them win the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015.
Contents
Early Life and First Steps in Football
Wilfried Bony was born in Bingerville, a city in Ivory Coast. From a young age, he loved playing football in the streets. He later joined the Maracanã Bingerville football school to learn more about the sport.
He also played in many school and city football tournaments. Before becoming a professional, he spent three years at the Cyril Domoraud Academy in Bingerville. This academy helped him improve his skills.
Club Football Journey
Starting Out in Ivory Coast
Bony began his professional football career at a club called Issia Wazy in Ivory Coast's top league. He did very well in his first season. In 2007, he was the top goal scorer for his team.
Playing in the Czech Republic
In 2007, Bony had a tryout with the famous English club Liverpool, but he didn't get a contract. Later that year, he joined the Czech club Sparta Prague on loan. He first played for their B team and helped them win a championship.
He then joined Sparta Prague permanently and started playing for the main team in the 2008–09 season. He scored 3 goals in 16 games. In the 2009–10 season, he scored nine goals and helped Sparta Prague win the Czech First League title.
In the first half of the 2010–11 season, he scored 17 goals. This included five goals in the UEFA Europa League, a big European competition. Because of his great performance, the Dutch club Vitesse signed him in January 2011.
Success in the Netherlands with Vitesse
Bony signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Vitesse. He scored a goal in his very first game for the club in February 2011. In his first full season, he scored 12 goals in the Eredivisie, which is the top Dutch league. He was the top scorer for Vitesse that season.
In February 2012, he signed a new contract to stay with Vitesse until 2015. This stopped other clubs from trying to buy him.
In the 2012–13 season, Bony continued to score many goals. He scored a winning goal against Feyenoord and a hat-trick (three goals in one game) against Heerenveen. He also scored two goals in a big win against Ajax.
He scored another hat-trick against Heracles Almelo in February 2013. Bony finished the season as the top scorer in the Eredivisie with 31 goals in 30 matches. He also won the Golden Shoe award for being the best player in the Netherlands.
Moving to Swansea City
On 11 July 2013, Bony joined the Welsh club Swansea City. They paid £12 million for him, which was a record for the club. He signed a four-year contract.
He played his first game for Swansea in a UEFA Europa League match in August 2013, scoring two goals. In his first Premier League game, he scored against Manchester United. He also scored two goals in a 3–3 draw with Stoke City.
In the FA Cup, Bony scored a late goal against Manchester United. This goal helped Swansea win at Old Trafford for the first time ever. He finished the 2013–14 season with 25 goals.
In the 2014–15 season, Bony continued to score important goals. He scored two goals against Leicester City, which made him Swansea's all-time leading Premier League goal scorer. He was the Premier League's top scorer in the year 2014 with 20 goals.
Time at Manchester City
On 14 January 2015, Bony joined Manchester City, another Premier League club. The transfer fee was £25 million, which could go up to £28 million. This made him one of the most expensive African footballers at that time.
He made his debut for Manchester City in February 2015. He scored his first league goal for City in March 2015 against West Bromwich Albion. He also scored against his old club, Swansea, in May.
In 2015, Bony got malaria, which affected his training. However, he still scored his first two goals of the 2015–16 season in October against AFC Bournemouth. He also scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in November.
In December, he helped Manchester City win a Champions League group stage match by assisting two goals and scoring one himself. He also played in the 2016 Football League Cup Final, where Manchester City won against Liverpool on penalties.
Loan to Stoke City
In August 2016, Bony joined Stoke City on a loan deal for one season. He scored two goals in a 3–1 win against Swansea in October. After playing for Ivory Coast in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, he had less playing time at Stoke.
Back to Swansea City
On 31 August 2017, Bony returned to Swansea City. He signed a two-year deal, and Swansea paid £12 million for him. He scored against Stoke City in December 2017. A week later, he was the captain for Swansea in a 1–0 win against West Bromwich Albion.
After this, both Bony and the club found it hard to score goals. He got an ankle injury, and Swansea was relegated from the Premier League. In January 2019, he went on loan to the Qatari club Al-Arabi. Swansea released him from his contract in May 2019.
Playing in Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands
In January 2020, Bony signed a contract with Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. He played for them for 10 months before leaving by agreement with the club.
After being without a club for over a year, Bony returned to the Netherlands in January 2022. He joined NEC Nijmegen until the end of the season. He only played one short game for NEC because of injuries.
New Adventures in Bolivia
On 11 February 2023, Wilfried Bony signed with Club Always Ready, a football club in Bolivia. He became the first player from Ivory Coast to play professional football in Bolivia.
International Career for Ivory Coast
Bony was first called up to play for his country, Ivory Coast, in late 2010. He made his debut in a 1–0 win against Burundi.
Africa Cup of Nations 2012
In January 2012, Bony scored a goal in Ivory Coast's 2–0 win over Angola in the African Cup of Nations.
FIFA World Cup 2014
Bony was part of Ivory Coast's team for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In their first game against Japan, he scored a goal that helped Ivory Coast win 2–1. He also scored a goal against Greece in the final group stage match.
Africa Cup of Nations 2015 Victory
In the quarter-final of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Bony scored two goals against Algeria, helping his team win 3–1. In the final, he missed a penalty kick in the penalty shoot-out, but his team still won the tournament! This was a big achievement for Ivory Coast.
Personal Life
Wilfried Bony's father is named Amedee Shemiz Bony. Wilfried Bony can speak French, English, and Czech fluently. His son, Geoffroy Bony, is also a professional footballer. His younger son, Orphee Bony, is also training to be a footballer.
Honours and Awards
Sparta Prague
- Czech First League: 2009–10
Manchester City
- Football League Cup: 2015–16
Ivory Coast
- Africa Cup of Nations: 2015
Individual Awards
- Eredivisie top scorer: 2012–13
- Dutch Footballer of the Year: 2012–13
- Swansea City Player of the Year: 2013–14
- Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2015
Images for kids
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Bony with Swansea City in 2013
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Bony playing for Vitesse in August 2012
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Bony with the Ivory Coast national team in 2012
See also
In Spanish: Wilfried Bony para niños
