But who can blame the goalie towels? This is one of the many questions burning on people’s lips this Monday the day after the CAN final between Senegal and Morocco, won by the Senegalese (1-0).
Put into context. The scene, which was missed by the production of the match, was quick to make the rounds on social networks: during extra time, the second goalkeeper of the Teranga Lions Yehvann Diouf had to transform himself into the bodyguard of Édouard Mendy’s towel, coveted by young ball boys and even by PSV Eindhoven player Ismael Saibari.
“I was surprised”
In several lunar scenes, we see Saibari standing straight like a stake between Diouf and Mendy to try to intercept the towel or, more seriously, four ball boys trying to steal said towel from Diouf’s arms, going so far as to bring him to the ground on the field, in full action and drag him along the ground.
Before that, another scene sees Moroccan supporters asking Achraf Hakimi to throw a towel, quickly collected by a Senegalese player.
“Towels?” I was surprised when I saw that they tried to take them, reacted Diouf after the meeting in the mixed zone. It was just towels to dry gloves, face, nothing more. Maybe there’s a bit of folklore around it, but it’s something banal in my opinion. »
“Against Nigeria, we saw that the stewards were already trying to recover them. I don’t know why they did it, it wasn’t fair play on their part. I tried to make sure that Édouard was as focused as possible, we needed him to be 100% focused on the pitch. »
A “strategic” flight?
But then, why try to steal towels? “I can imagine two reasons for that,” former PSG goalkeeper Jérôme Alonzo tries to analyze. The first is to steal a memory that may prove valuable, one side prize of war ; the second is strategic, because we want to prevent it from being wiped or because we think there is information on it for a penalty shootout. »
Given the heavy rain that fell on the stadium at the end of the match, the second option seems the most likely.
Above all, as Yehvann Diouf recalled, this gesture is part of a strange dynamic that started in the semi-final, during Morocco-Nigeria. Already, Nigerian goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali had been the victim of several towel thefts… By stewards.
Jérôme Alonzo is amazed. “The Moroccan federation is at fault for me. In a match like this, with the whole world watching, what serious nation lets this happen, TWICE? In two games? » The former goalkeeper regrets that this will tarnish the results of this CAN for the Moroccan organization. “I know Moroccan football by heart, the work of the federation is phenomenal. Everything is now swept away at the level of public opinion. It’s the responsibility of the federation: it can’t happen! »
“You must have ten guys from the organization stopping them this second.”
Beyond the towel theft, “no one is there to protect Diouf,” breathes Alonzo. “This is unacceptable. Of everything unacceptable I saw in this finale, this is the prize. It’s okay that it fell on Diouf, who is the nicest guy on earth. If it’s a goalkeeper who has my character or that of Olmeta… He has the right to slap them. And if he does that, things definitely go wrong. »
“The second the first kid tries to grab the towel, you must have ten guys from the organization stopping them and getting them off the field,” says Alonzo, between nervous laughs. “Do you realize the situation? The image when he is on the ground, he is missing more than a pump in the ribs. And no one raised a finger for Diouf. What do we do next, try to steal their gloves? »
A situation which may recall, all things considered, an astonishing episode of the last Women’s Euro, when English goalkeeper Hannah Hampton admitted to having thrown into the stands the bottle of her Spanish colleague Cata Coll, on which she had noted the tactical instructions for a penalty shootout. But this time, at least, no steward was involved and no player was pushed around.
Worth a look
