| Benin's Boco enjoying life at The Showgrounds |
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| Tuesday, 29 April 2008 | |
 BENIN international, Romauld Boco, believes Sligo Rovers can make a concerted push towards the top of the eircom Premier League. Twenty-two year old Boco feels the best is yet to come as Paul Cook's new-look side settle into the new campaign.
by Michael Moran, courtesy of The Sligo Champion "If we can get a little consistency and work hard we can be close to the top teams. The only difference could be the strength of the other squads above us and the gap in the respective budgets," he maintains. Dazzling display Boco joined Rovers from Accrington Stanley prior to the start of the season and he stole the show with a dazzling display in a friendly against Finn Harps at the Showgrounds. An attacking midfielder/ forward, he scored with an exquisite finish and set up another goal for Fahrudin Kuduzovic with an equally scintillating piece of skill. "Yes, it was a good start for me. The fans gave me a good reception and I was pleased. But, this is a new team and we are getting to know each other, how we play, and how I want those around me to play. I think individually and collectively we can improve. "We had some difficult games early on, but the win over Cobh Ramblers boosted confidence and hopefully we can go on to get some good results now," he said. A native of France, Boco's father, Paul, is from Benin and under the parentage rule, the Rovers player has just clocked up twenty-five appearances at international level for the West African country, the last three coming as captain against Nigeria, Mali and the Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup hosted by Ghana. Boco was also involved in the Beninese 2004 African Nations team and was a member of the under-20 side which finished third in the African Youth Championship, the team going on to feature in the FIFA World Cup. His career began as a twelve year old at RC Lens and after four years in what is known as the 'formation' grade, he moved to French First Division outfit Valenciennes. From there, he joined Niort in the Second Division, where he spent two years, the first predominantly on the substitutes bench, the second in the team. "After Niort, I was invited for a trial at Accrington and they signed me. Paul Cook was there and we won the Conference," Boco explained. He also had the distinction of scoring the first two Football League goals for Stanley in a two-one win over Barnet. In a total of 73 appearances he hit the net seven times. "I had some good times at Accrington, but towards the end I was unhappy and that was effecting my game. Paul invited me to come and have a look at Sligo and I liked what I saw. Challenge "I decided to sign and try my hand at Irish soccer. It was a help that I knew the manager. I know how he works, what he wants from me and the team. It is a good challenge for me," he went on. Boco has been used in a role up front by Cook and got his first league goal in the win over Cobh. "I'm enjoying it and I want to help the team to win games and move up the table," he commented. "If we can get greater consistency and play well for the full ninety minutes, we will do that. We have done okay in parts of games, but we need to keep it going all the way through. "It is also important to keep clean sheets and once you do that, you are guaranteed something from a game. If we score goals, we win," Boco outlined. "We had a bit of bad luck against Bohemians at home (losing two-one and having a goal disallowed), but held Drogheda and that was encouraging. There are good players at the club and I think we will show that as time goes on," he said. |
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