Koffi Christian Romaric N'Dri (born 4 June 1983), commonly known as Romaric, is an Ivorian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and current manager of

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club AFAD Djékanou. A versatile

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he could play as either a

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He played in six countries, mainly France and Spain. He made 149

appearances in the former for

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

and

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

, and played 121

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

games in the latter for

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

and

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. In an eight-year international career for the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, Romaric went to two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

and three

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

tournaments, finishing as runners-up in the 2008 edition of the latter.

Club career

Early years

Born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

, Romaric started his career at the famed youth academy of hometown club

ASEC Mimosas ASEC Mimosas (short for Association Sportive des Employés de Commerce Mimosas; ) is an Ivorian professional football club based in Abidjan. The club is also known as ''ASEC Abidjan'', especially in international club competitions. Founded in 194 ...

, moving to

K.S.K. Beveren KSK Beveren (''Royal Sporting Club of Beveren'') is a Belgian football club from Beveren in East Flanders with founded number 2300 and with yellow and blue as colors. The club became national champion twice in its existence and won the Belgian ...

in 2003. In his second season in Belgium, he scored a career-best 13 goals in 32 games, but his team narrowly avoided relegation from the Pro League.

Le Mans

In May 2005, Romaric joined French club

Le Mans UC72 Le Mans Football Club (; commonly referred to as Le Mans FC) is a French professional football club based in Le Mans. The club set to compete in Ligue 2 from 2025–26, the second tier of French football after promotion from Championnat Nation ...

. In late August, however, he was involved in a serious car accident, fracturing his

collarbone The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavicle is the ...

and taking a blow to the head close to

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

, in Belgium. Romaric quickly recovered from his injuries and established himself in the team's starting eleven. In 2006–07, he scored five goals in 35 matches, as Le Mans easily retained its

status (12th position), and was also linked with a move to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

as a replacement for departing

Vikash Dhorasoo Vikash Rao Dhorasoo (born 10 October 1973) is a French former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Dhorasoo spent most of his career with Lyon, winning Ligue 1 twice in 2003 and 2004, and also had a loan at Bordeaux and a spell a ...

in the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

– nothing came of it eventually; in his last season, he reunited at the

Stade Léon-Bollée Stade Léon-Bollée was a multi-purpose stadium in Le Mans, France. It is used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and was the home stadium of Le Mans UC72 until 2011, when it was replaced by MMArena. The stadium is able to hold 17,801 ...

with compatriot

Gervinho Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987), known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumodi, before moving to Belgium in 2004 to play for Beveren. Between 2007 ...

, a former teammate at Beveren.

Sevilla

On 21 May 2008, Romaric signed for

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

in Spain, penning a four-year contract for a fee believed to be around

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

8 and 10 million, and linking up with countryman

Arouna Koné Arouna Koné (born 11 November 1983) is an Ivorian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. After making a name for himself in the Eredivisie, with Roda JC and PSV Ein ...

. He scored his first

goal on 7 December, in a 4–3 away win against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, and finished his first season with 36 matches (30 starts), as the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns were ranked in third position. Following the arrival of another Ivorian midfielder,

Didier Zokora Déguy Alain Didier Zokora (born 14 December 1980) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He represented the Ivory Coast national team for 14 years, beginning in 2000, and is currently the nation's mos ...

, Romaric saw his minutes significantly decreased. On 9 January 2010, he netted in a 1–2 home loss against

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

. Romaric joined fellow league team

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

on a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan at the end of the 2011 summer

. Included in the agreement was an option to make the transfer permanent at the end of the campaign, with the player signing a three-year contract.

Later career

On 26 July 2012, Romaric negotiated a release from Sevilla, and signed a two-year deal with fellow league team

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

under his former manager Manolo Jiménez. He played only 14 total matches, as the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces of Spain, ...

ese ended the season with relegation, and was sent off in the ninth minute of a 1–0 home loss to

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

on 6 October for a foul on

Mehdi Lacen Medhi Gregory Giuseppe Lacen (; born 15 March 1984) is a retired professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. After starting out at Laval, he spent most of his professional career in Spain, representing Alavés, Racing de Sant ...

. Romaric returned to France and its top flight on 1 August 2013, joining

SC Bastia Sporting Club Bastia (, commonly referred to as SC Bastia or simply Bastia) is a French professional association football, football club based in Bastia on the island of Corsica. The club plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of Football in France, ...

for two years with the option of a third and reuniting with his Le Mans boss

Frédéric Hantz Frédéric Hantz (born 30 May 1966) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Managerial career Hantz formerly managed Sochaux, who had a playing career before coaching. On 18 December, he was name ...

. He played the first four matches in the

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

ns'

2014–15 Coupe de la Ligue The 2014–15 Coupe de la Ligue was the 21st edition of the French league cup competition. The competition was organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel and was open to the 44 professional clubs in France that are managed by the organizatio ...

campaign, but was an unused substitute for the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, a 4–0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain at the

Stade de France Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the List of football stadiums in France, largest stadium i ...

. After being released by the side, he remained a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

through the summer, before moving on 10 September 2015 to

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia (; ''Athlitikós Sýllogos Omónoia Lefkosías''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (also Romanization of Greek, transliterated as Omonoia), is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional multi-sport club, esta ...

of the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

for the rest of the season. The

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

-based club reached the

of the

domestic cup A domestic cup (also known as association cup or national cup) is a type of sports tournament, particularly common in association football. This tournament type is notable for its participation by professional and amateur teams from many levels of ...

, losing 2–1 to

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

. On 14 August 2016, Romaric moved countries again, joining

NorthEast United FC NorthEast United Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Guwahati, Assam that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded on 13 April 2014 during the inaugural sea ...

for the upcoming edition of the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

International career

Romaric's debut for the

came on 17 August 2005, in a 0–3 friendly loss with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

. He was called up for the following year's

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

squad, where he appeared in the 1–2 group stage defeat against

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Romaric played for the Elephants in the

2006 Africa Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split int ...

, with the tournament ending with a runner-up position after a final loss to hosts

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He scored his first international goal on 29 March 2009, opening 5–0 home win after just 28 seconds against

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

for the

2010 World Cup qualifiers Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

; the result was overshadowed by a crush that killed 19 spectators. Romaric was selected for the final stages in South Africa, where he played in all the games in another group stage exit, netting against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

Mbombela Stadium The Mbombela Stadium is a association football, football and Rugby union all-seater stadium in Mbombela in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It was one of 10 venues for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and one of 5 newly constructed stadiums for th ...

(3–0). However, he was not included in the squad for the

2012 Africa Cup of Nations The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (C ...

, in which the Ivory Coast finished as runners-up.

International goals

Coaching career

In November 2017, Romaric was named an assistant coach at ASEC Mimosas. He was in charge of the reserve team until ASEC Mimosas dissolved their reserve squad in September 2020. In 2021, Romaric was named manager for Ivorian third division side Zoman FC. He earned them promotion to the second division in his first season in charge. In March 2022, Romaric was appointed manager for AFAD Djekanou, in the Ivorian Ligue 1.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Sevilla *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

: 2009–10 *

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

runner-up:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Ivory Coast *

runner-up:

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Romaric 1983 births Living people Footballers from Abidjan Ivorian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders ASEC Mimosas players Belgian Pro League players K.S.K. Beveren players Ligue 1 players Le Mans FC players SC Bastia players La Liga players Sevilla FC players RCD Espanyol footballers Real Zaragoza players Cypriot First Division players AC Omonia players Indian Super League players NorthEast United FC players Ivory Coast men's international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2008 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players Ivorian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in India Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in France Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Ivorian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Ivorian football managers 21st-century Ivorian sportsmen