Senegal’s joyous march to the last eight of the 2002 World Cup – the west African nation’s best-ever performance in the competition – was feistily spearheaded by effervescent forward El Hadji Diouf, a trash-talking player whose attachment to gamesmanship so often left him alienated and unloved.
Two decades on, the Lions of Teranga, reigning African champions and a solid bet to go deep at Qatar 2022, boast a totally different type of standard-bearer: the unassuming and humble character that is deluxe frontrunner and national team talisman Sadio Mane.
Growing up in his hometown of Bambali in southern Senegal, the young Mane was entranced by Diouf’s flair and directness. But there was never any chance of Sadio embracing his idol’s provocative on-field persona, the sort of blatant opponent baiting which Diouf famously utilised in Senegal’s much-chronicled1-0victory over France in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup.
Deriving his material from the fact that the Senegalese squad were staying at the same hotel as the French players’ nearest and dearest, Diouf was in outrageous sledging mode throughout that game in Seoul. A constant irritant, he particularly targeted France defender Franck Leboeuf – and the chicanery worked. Leboeuf had a
