Despite himself, he became one of the stars of Senegal’s success at CAN 2025. Yehvann Diouf, the second goalkeeper of the Teranga Lions, took the spotlight during the final won against Morocco on Sunday January 18 (1-0 ap) despite his status as a substitute.
Official protector of the towels of the titular goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, the OGC Nice player resisted multiple attacks from ball boys, stewards and Ismael Saibari, determined to steal the piece of fabric. Dragged to the ground by the young volunteers during overtime, Diouf expressed his astonishment at the relentlessness of the Moroccans once the match was over.
“Towels?” I was surprised when I saw that they tried to take them,” he told the Senegalese media in the mixed zone. “It was just towels to dry the gloves, the face, nothing more. Maybe there’s a bit of folklore around it, but it’s something mundane in my opinion. »
The humor of the Senegalese Prime Minister
Particularly relayed on social networks, the sequences showing him playing the bodyguard next to Mendy’s cage shocked public opinion, to the point of pushing Saibari to go directly to the hotel of the new African champions to apologize for his behavior the day after the final.
The subject of towels has even been raised to the highest level of the Senegalese government. Present at Dakar airport alongside the President of the Republic Bassirou Diomaye Faye to receive the heroes of an entire people on the night of Monday to Tuesday, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko did not fail to refer to this lunar episode.
After shaking hands with Ibrahim Mbaye, Iliman Ndiaye and the other Lions, the head of government greeted Diouf by asking him: “Where are the towels? “. Enough to make the Nice goalkeeper and captain Kalidou Koulibaly, sitting next to him, smile.
A few moments after the final, Diouf had fun with the situation by posting an Instagram story to present the famous towel alongside his champion’s medal. “It’s there (the medal and the towel),” he joked.
