After his spectacular display against Ecuador to send Senegal to the knockout round of the World Cup Qatar 2022 on Tuesday, Kalidou Koulibaly has indicated that he will give the family of the late Senegal midfielder Papa Bouba Diop his person-of-the-match award. The Chelsea defender produced a gallant show on Diop’s tragic early dying anniversary following an extended disease, scoring as the Teranga Lions sensationally beat Ecuador 2-1, and was consequently named the player of the match.Koulibaly also paid tribute to former Lens man by inscribing the number 19 Diop wore on the captain’s armband. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6857499##“Currently is the anniversary of his loss of life, I will give his spouse and children the trophy in his honor,” Koulibaly told reporters.“We realized the anniversary of his dying was a little something pretty vital, for his loved ones. We needed to pay homage to him, he was an aspiration to me when I was a boy. We realized we should play in his honor. It was an opportunity we were not going to let slip. It was critical for us as a crew to make our households and Papa’s family members very pleased. Now we know we have to rest up, retain a cool head, sure we are competent, and indeed we can savor the win, but now we have to concentrate. We are required to present why we are the champions of Africa. We need to have to rest up and get the most effective from ourselves in the knockout levels,” he added.Koulibaly’s goal sent Senegal into the knockout stage for only the second time in their history.“This was a distinctive working day for Senegal, all Senegalese soccer gained these days. I’m happy I scored for us to reach this objective, it really is a substantial honor for me.”Battle of the Lions up ahead – Senegal will face England in the round of 16Ismaila Sarr sent Senegal ahead in the 44th minute with an ice-awesome no-look penalty soon after he was felled by Piero Hincapie.Ecuador fought back through Moises Caicedo’s header, but Chelsea defender Koulibaly grabbed the lead three minutes later to deliver Senegal to the next stage. Koulibaly also showed support to his pals in Italy, the place he played for Napoli for eight long years, just after landslides on Monday on the island of Ischia, close to Naples.“There had been a great deal of deaths triggered by landslides… I want to dedicate this win to them today, to give them energy in this trying time,” he finished.
