Aristide Bancé

Aristide Bancé (born 19 September 1984) is a Burkinabé former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He started his European career at Lokeren, scoring 27 goals in 87 Jupiler Pro League games. After a season in Ukraine with Metalurh Donetsk, he moved to German club Mainz 05. In his first season at Mainz he helped the club achieve promotion to the Bundesliga with 14 league goals, as well as the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal, scoring 4 goals in the latter competition. The next season, under Thomas Tuchel, he helped Mainz staying in the German top tier and achieve 9th place by scoring 10 goals in the 2009–10 Bundesliga.

Club career Metalurh Donetsk On 20 June 2006, Bancé signed for Metalurh Donetsk on a four-year contract.

Having failed to secure a first-team place at Metalurh Donetsk, he returned to Belgium in July 2007, signing for Germinal Beerschot on a year-long loan. However, he was loaned out to Kickers Offenbach in January 2008 for the remainder of the season.

Mainz 05 Bancé joined Mainz 05 on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee in summer 2008.

Al-Ahli Dubai On 16 August 2010, Bancé signed for Al-Ahli Dubai on a four-year contract, with the transfer agreement between the two clubs remaining undisclosed.

FC Augsburg In June 2012, Bancé signed for FC Augsburg on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

In September 2013, he joined Fortuna Düsseldorf on loan until the end of the season.

HJK Helsinki In September 2014, Bancé signed with Finnish Veikkausliiga side HJK Helsinki.

Irtysh Pavlodar In February 2015, Bancé signed for Kazakhstan Premier League side FC Irtysh Pavlodar, leaving the club in June of the same year.

Chippa United In August 2015, Bancé went on trial with Bidvest Wits of the South African Premier Soccer League, eventually signing with Chippa United later in the month. Bancé parted company with Chippa United in May 2016.

Riga In August 2016, Bancé signed with Virslīga side Riga FC.

ASEC Mimosas In November 2016, Bancé was confirmed as a new signing for Ivorian side ASEC Mimosas. Bancé was voted player of the month for November 2016.

Al-Masry In July 2017, Bancé signed a two-year contract with Egyptian Premier League side Al-Masry.

US des Forces Armées In February 2019, Bancé returned to Burkina Faso to sign for US des Forces Armées.

Horoya AC In May 2019, Bancé signed for Guinean club Horoya AC, his 22nd team. In October 2019 he scored a hate-trick in the Confederation Cup play-offs.

International career Bancé is a member of the Burkina Faso national football team. He has appeared for Burkina Faso at three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, scoring both the team's goal and the winning kick in the penalty shootout in Les Étalons semi-final defeat of Ghana at the 2013 edition to put the nation in the final for first time in its history. Burkina Faso went on to lose the final to Nigeria and finish as runner-up.

At the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Bancé scored Burkina Faso's goal in a 2–1 loss to Congo which saw the 2013 runner-up knocked out at the group stage. In 2017, he scored a crucial goal in his team's quarter-final against Tunisia and in the semi-final scored a late equaliser against Egypt to take the game to a penalty shootout. Burkina Faso lost the shootout and eventually finished third overall in the cup, defeating Ghana in the third-place playoff.

In July 2020, Bancé announced his retirement from international football.

Personal life Bancé was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast to Burkinabe parents, but moved to Burkina Faso as a child. He is the brother-in-law to professional footballer Aruna Dindane.

Career statistics

International

International goals Scores and results list Burkina Faso's goal tally first. 2. Bundesliga runner-up: 2008–09 HJKVeikkausliiga: 2014 Ligue 1 top scorer: 2016–17 (13 goals)