Freddie's Corner

AFRICA

Bouba Diop, the giant we'll never forget

During Maradona mourning, a small great african hero also left

30-11-2020 by Freddie del Curatolo

You didn't have to wait for a dribbling, a dribbling, a free kick to understand that Bouba Diop was not Maradona.
But neither was Baggio or J.J. Okocha, to quote one of Africa's more or less magical jugglers.
The statuesque physique, even too much to dance with a ball, was already trying to give it up.
With that size, if you are fast and talented, you can be the central defender or at most, if you have good feet and a nose for goal, the centre forward.
Bouba, on the other hand, was an offensive midfielder and had in common with Diego his poor origins.
He came from Rufisque, a suburb of Senegal's capital Dakar, a shrimp fishing village with the mark of economic failure printed in concrete ruins of those who wanted to make it a commercial port.
There too, as in Buenos Aires, football is one of the few lifebuoys to float in the mud on the road and try to take flight.
But in Africa it is much more difficult.
It takes willpower, it takes a lot of it.
At the age of 15, he is already more or less the good giant that many people in Europe will be able to appreciate, 1.94 metres tall and weighing 95 kilos.
After changing three or four jerseys of minor teams in Dakar, at the age of seventeen he joined Vevey, the local team sponsored by a Swiss academy.
He does everything he can to stand out, but without forgetting his teammates. He dispenses passages, head supports, but when the chance comes he shoots 30-metre missiles. One of these holes the fisherman's net at the door, as if he wanted to free himself from the marked destiny of those born on the outskirts of the forgotten Metropolis.
There are observers from the Neuchatel Xamax, the first Swiss division to see it and in no time at all they take it to cold Europe.
The fans smile at young Bouba's first training sessions and Bubba, who moves a bit awkwardly, except when he touches the ball.
It was 1996 and the year before "Forrest Gump" won the American Oscars.
The image of the name Bubba is that of Tom Hanks's pagottone (and coloured) friend who only talks about shrimp. Those shrimps that Papa Bouba Diop knows all too well, often the only chance of a meal as a child.
But at the first game, at the age of nineteen, almost everyone understands that the Senegalese, although not a phenomenon, has grit to sell and opponents often make him pass him off so as not to risk contact.
Five years in Switzerland, more than two hundred games and ten goals, he was summoned to the national team of his country, before being hired by Lens in France and crowning the dream he had since childhood, that of buying a house in Paris. In the suburbs, of course.
It is 2002 and that year the whole world will notice him: Papa Bouba Diop.
Senegal obtains a historic first qualification for the World Football Championships, held in Korea. The debut on paper is one of the most difficult but also fascinating, just against France.
Many African players, like him, play and live there, some were even born there and feel half French. Bouba leads them to a fantastic performance and it is his goal of a historic victory that will remain forever in the collective memory of his country and beyond.
Bouba is not a forward, he doesn't score much. On average, three goals a year.
In the second match against Uruguay, together with France, the favourite in the group, he even scores a double. National hero. The magic ride of Senegal, after the qualification to the next phase, will see the victory 2-1 against Sweden, with Bouba still protagonist and among the best on the field and will be interrupted in the quarter finals in extra time with Turkey, among his irrepressible tears but the certainty of having done something great for himself and for his Nation. But his desire to amaze, to be a symbol not only of sport, but of revenge for the whole of Africa, does not subside.
The following year, with a charisma as a leader despite being only 26 years old, he moved to London, bought by Fulham.
He would soon become captain of that team, after his teammates had nicknamed him Wardrobe. Someone said it wasn't enough, because he wasn't only physically great. And so he became "Wardrobe" for everyone.
From Fulham to Portsmouth, then to Greece, finally the return to England and a series of injuries, with his knees starting to stop supporting him.
Eight years ago, he retired to his home in Paris and travelled to Dakar with his relatives.
No great dreams, all fulfilled.
No frustration, except not being able to do enough for the community in the suburbs where he grew up.
There were so many, invisible, full of dreams like him or the hope he managed to give them, those who greeted him for the last time yesterday.
"Goodbye, Wardrobe" wrote the Fulham team on the socials.

TAGS: senegal calciocalcio africastorie kenyastorie africaeroe africa

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