Super talent Yan Diomande, 19, is playing his first ever WC.
And he does it for his dead sister Roxane.
“I will make sure that no one forgets you,” writes the 19-year-old in an open letter.
Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande is one of the world’s most celebrated and sought-after football talents right now. Last season, the 19-year-old scored twelve goals and eight assists in the Bundesliga for RB Leipzig and on Monday he made his debut on the world’s biggest stage: the World Cup.
Now he talks about the grief he carries – and why he plays football.
In an open letter on the site The Players Tribune Diomande addresses her sister Roxane, who died when she was 15.
“I don’t feel anything anymore, it’s like I’m not even a person. Since you died, I’m just blank,” writes Diomande and goes on to tell how he received the news of Roxane’s death.
“My chance to show the world”
It was a couple of weeks after he had made his debut for Leganés, against Real Madrid, that the then 18-year-old Yan Diomande received a call from home.
“Your sister is dead,” was the message he received. “Someone put something in her drink at a party and she never woke up. She’s gone.”
Yan Diomande describes how Roxane was always the one who believed in and supported him in his football career, and how he now plays for her.
“This is my chance to show the whole world what you saw in me. Every time I score, I’ll make sure everyone knows your name. I’ll make sure no one forgets you,” writes Diomande.
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