Author of four goals and three assists, Kadidiatou Diani is gaining momentum within the France team during the World Cup. Her fluid connection with her teammate Eugénie Le Sommer at the forefront of the French attack will be useful for Les Bleues against hosts Australia in the quarter-finals.
Published on: 08/11/2023 – 17:12
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Kadidiatou Diani, 28, 1.69m, stands out at the forefront of the French attack during the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The Les Bleues striker continues to gain momentum with a new goal, percussion and a paying connection with Eugénie Le Sommer during the round of 16 against Morocco, at the end of which the Bleues won 4 goals to 0 Tuesday August 8th.
During this same match, Kadidiatou Diani also distinguished herself with two assists, including one for Kenza Dali, with whom she formed an almost inseparable duo.
Describing the atmosphere in the Les Bleues locker room, the newspaper L’Équipe recalls, in an article of August 10, which the two players call themselves “KD2” (their initials, “squared”). A name relayed on the X account (formerly Twitter) of the former Paris Saint-Germain striker, today at Olympique Lyonnais.
Players “on fire”
The French striker has, for the moment, scored four goals out of the twelve scored by the French since the start of the World Cup. She is tied with Amanda Ilestedt (Sweden), Alexandra Popp (Germany) and Jill Roord (Netherlands), and one goal behind Japan’s Hinata Miyazawa, who has five goals to her credit.
Kadidiatou Diani also equalizes the number of goals scored by the captain of the France team, Wendie Renard, who scored four times at the 2019 World Cup.
A native of Ivry-sur-Seine (in Val-de-Marne), Kadidiatou Diani also totals three assists since the start of the tournament. A great performance for the striker, who arrived in Australia without rhythm after a collarbone injury at the end of March with PSG.
The player could shine again on Saturday, in the match against Australia, the host country, in the quarter-finals in Brisbane. If the Blues play “outside”, they hope to exceed this level of competition, during which they were eliminated by the United States in 2019.
The fluid connection between Eugénie Le Sommer and Kadidiatou Diani at the forefront of the French attack is a reassuring fact in view of Saturday’s meeting. “As the matches go on, we find ourselves better and better, so it’s good for the rest of the competition”, slipped Kadidiatou Diani. Eugénie Le Sommer, author of a double on Tuesday, confirmed this agreement after the match: “I am a player who likes to play between the lines. It’s part of my qualities. Today, that’s what I tried to do. ‘Kady’ is more of a depth player. We try to complement each other too.” “They are ‘on fire’ (‘on fire’, editor’s note) and that’s good for us”, also smiled the side Selma Bacha.
Success with PSG
This year has already been synonymous with success for Kadidiatou Diani, with PSG at least, despite his injury. During the 2022/2023 season, the striker was top scorer for D1 Arkema (French women’s football championship) with 17 goals and winner of the D1 Arkema best player trophy.
With the capital club, from 2017 to 2023, she also won the French championship in 2021 as well as the Coupe de France in 2018 and 2022. In 2021, she was also the winner of the FFF and UNFP trophies for the best player of D1 Arkema.
On August 20, she hopes to add another trophy to her collection: the World Cup.
With AFP
