In the national team of the West African state with a population of around 23 million, Edmond Tapsoba has been an undisputed first choice for years. The Leverkusen player, who won the Bundesliga and the DFB Pokal double plus the Supercup with the Werkself in the summer, has only missed one of the last 14 international fixtures – a friendly against Niger. He has played the full 90 minutes in every game. To date Tapsoba has won 47 caps for his country and scored one goal.
Tapsoba, under the Cross since January 2020, is also a regular starter at Bayer 04: He was in the starting line-up in eleven of the last twelve matches and was only substituted once.
The other nominations for the African Player of the Year are: Amine Gouiri (Stade Rennes/Algeria), Simon Adingra (Brighton & Hove Albion/Ivory Coast), Chancel Mbemba (Olympique Marseille/DR Congo), Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund/Guinea), Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain/Morocco), Soufiane Rahimi (Al-Ain FC/Morocco), Ademola Lookman (Atalanta Bergamo/Nigeria), William Troost-Ekong (Al-Kholood/Nigeria), Ronwen Williams (Sundowns/South Africa).
Away from football, Tapsoba has primarily done a lot for the people in his home country. In the summer he formed the ‘Fondation Edmond Tapsoba’ in Burkina Faso. The foundation based in Ouagadougou has the target of sustainably supporting people in different areas of life. The main focus is on measures for disadvantaged children, older people, the homeless, victims of violence, people with serious illnesses, refugees and people with disabilities.
Tapsoba spoke to bayer04.de a while ago about his motivation, his targets and desires for his project. HERE is the interview.
Ahead of the away game at Werder Bremen on Bundesliga matchday 8 on Saturday, 26 October (kick-off: 18.30 CEST), the Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team has all the info you need for the match at the Weserstadion…
Show moreWhile eight Leverkusen players are currently away on international duty, the remaining members of the Bayer 04 Women's squad played a friendly against Feyenoord on Thursday 24 October. The match against the top-flight Dutch side ended all square at 2-2. Leverkusen took a two-goal lead in the first half but Feyenoord hit back with two goals in the middle of the second half preventing a win for the Black and Reds.
Show moreThe media wrote of a “hard fight” and “battling French” after Bayer 04’s 1-1 draw away at Brest in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday. Florian Wirtz made more headlines when he hit the opening goal, although it wasn’t enough for more than a point in Brittany. We go over the action from Matchday 3 of the league phase in our Werkself review.
Show moreWerkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw at Stade Brest on the 3rd matchday of the UEFA Champions League 2024/25...
Show more