As here last week against Strasbourg's Stefan Mitrovic, Sinaly Diomande most often takes the upper hand over his direct opponents on set pieces.
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Laurent Cipriani / AP / SIPA
Current runner-up of Losc in Ligue 1, OL will host Montpellier on Saturday (9 p.m.) for the 25th day of the championship.
Rudi Garcia is counting a lot this season on central defender Sinaly Diomande (19), still completely unknown to the general public last summer.
20 Minutes
retraces the astonishing journey of the Ivorian neo-international, who joined the academy of Jean-Marc Guillou in Djekanou (Ivory Coast) less than four years ago.
“Follow Sinaly Diomande well this season for OL!
Attention sacred player!
On September 19, Sidney Govou wrote this fiery tweet about a discreet 19-year-old Ivorian defender, who had just experienced his professional debut the previous day against Nîmes (0-0).
"Lyonnais players have been talking to me about him for a long time," said the seven-time French champion Lyonnais at
20 Minutes
.
I have been told so much good, and unanimously, that it is necessarily significant: he will take his place in this team ”.
The result proved him right, since before facing Montpellier on Saturday (9 p.m.), Sinaly Diomande already has 20 appearances in pro (including 9 starts), with an unusual status of lucky charm (16 wins and 4 draws).
Unlike his teammates Maxence Caqueret, Rayan Cherki and Melvin Bard, this one is not at all a pure product of Lyon training.
Four years ago, the sturdy 1.84 m tall guy was just starting to play club football at SOL FC in Abobo (Ivory Coast).
"He had big technical shortcomings"
“We must take into account the African context, where youth football is not organized, recalls Vincent Dufour, director general of the academies of Jean-Marc Guillou, where Sinaly Diomande was accepted in September 2017. As soon as a child can walk, he plays football.
But he doesn't do it in an organized structure that sometimes distorts the player more than it trains him.
“At the JMG academy in Djekanou (Ivory Coast), the one nicknamed“ Ben ”starts from very far.
"He arrived three years after almost all the players on the team and he had major technical shortcomings, underlines Adrien Gaignon, his coach from 2017 to 2019. He was already strong, with a very good relaxation, but he had to catch up by quickly discovering our methods.
He was therefore entitled to 45 minutes of barefoot juggling at each session, thigh, knee, shoulder, everywhere.
His progress was made at high speed. ”After a year, Sinaly Diomande is then ready to win in this JMG team, not registered in a championship, but capable of standing up to teams of 1st and 2nd division, or to the Ivorian national selection U18.
On November 1 in Lille, Sinaly Diomande proved that he knew how to resist Losc attackers, even in an attack-defense configuration after the expulsion of Marcelo.
- Pascal Rossignol / AP / SIPA
Academy bans defenders from swinging in front
“We quickly understood that we were dealing with a little one who was hungry,” says his ex-teammate Alidu Seidu, then captain of the Djekanou academy.
It was hot all the time to learn and work over and over again.
In training, he sometimes amused himself by telling us "I am Ramos", "I am van Dijk".
At his own pace, Sinaly Diomande becomes the defensive boss of the young Ivorian team.
“He was calm behind, appreciates Adrien Gaignon.
As we generally had more than 70% possession of the ball and we prohibited clearances far ahead to all players, he quickly progressed in the recovery.
“The beginnings of his decisive pass, two weeks ago against Bordeaux (2-1), which led to the miraculous goal of Léo Dubois, were therefore played 4,500 km from Décines.
For his first opportunity to show himself in Europe, from April 20 to 22, 2019 in Saint-Joseph (Loire) during an international U19 tournament, he did not miss out against AS Monaco, Standard de Liège and the Impact Montreal, before losing in the semi-final against Groningen (Netherlands).
“We suspected that there would be recruiters there, so with Sinaly, we said to ourselves 'brother, this is our chance,' recalls Alidu Seidu.
He was very strong in this tournament, he did not hesitate to dribble the opposing attackers.
"His phenomenal relaxation also bursts the screen, as Adrien Gaignon explains:" Scouts from several clubs came to see me to tell me "Your defender does not jump, he flies".
»An asset that marked Vincent Dufour from 2017.
I wouldn't want to be a striker when he's defending in the face.
He is determined and in the air, not many people take the ball from him.
His relaxation is madness, he goes up and above all he stays up there.
"
Florian Maurice feels the right way during a friendly match against Andrézieux
A few days after this tournament during which he impressed the recruiter of the OL Patrice Girard, he still made a strong impression despite the defeat (1-2) against Andrézieux (National 2) in a friendly.
“This time, Florian Maurice [then recruiting manager in Lyon] was present, slips Adrien Gaignon.
He saw how Sinaly took everything in the lead, that he was hard to pass and that he raised well.
For me, it was obvious, he was going to be taken by OL.
"
Even when celebrating a victory, during a tournament in the Loire in April 2019 with his team from the JMG academy, Sinaly Diomande jumps above the fray.
- ADRIEN GAIGNON / JMG
In total, ten players of the JMG adventure won trials in France.
Sinaly Diomandé was officially transferred to Lyon, on September 2, 2019, from Jean-Marc Guillou's academy, via the Malian club partner of Guidars FC, for 550,000 euros (plus € 2 million in bonus and a 30% incentive for future transfers).
At the same time, Ghanaian side Alidu Seidu (20) joined Clermont, where he has 17 Ligue 2 games this season.
Head shots "à la Basile Boli" and free kicks from 35 meters
Remained close to his friend Djekanou, he does not hide his surprise about his brilliant outbreak, marked by a recent contract extension until 2025 in Lyon: "It went too too quickly for" Ben ".
I told myself last year that it wouldn't be a problem for him to win with the reserve team [in National 2].
But to do it in the wake in Ligue 1, there, it's crazy!
"If Sinaly Diomande has clearly become number 3 in the hierarchy of central defenders behind Jason Denayer (ex-academician JMG too, from 2008 to 2012 in Belgium) and Marcelo, Rudi Garcia was not convinced that he could be number 4 before the start of the season, therefore asking his management for reinforcement in this position even before the loan of Joachim Andersen to Fulham.
To deal with Sinaly Diomande in the aerial game, it's still something this season in Ligue 1, isn't it Paul Baysse?
- Laurent Cipriani / AP / SIPA
After having alternated between N2 (16 games) and Youth League (6 games) in 2019-2020, Sinaly Diomande is so impressive, for his debut in the elite, that his first pro goal will not be long, according to his relatives .
"With us, he gave a few head shots to Basile Boli", smiles Adrien Gaignon.
Alidu Seidu reveals the secret boot of Lyon number 2: “He has a very big shot from afar, even at 35 meters.
It is enough to shift it, and if it is framed, it is necessarily goal.
In Côte d'Ivoire, the defenders sometimes did not even try to block the ball because his shots were too powerful.
Well, there, he is perhaps playing the timid by not asking to knock, there is Memphis Depay before him.
But if he lets him try one, the coach will love it.
»Rudi, if you read us ...
Young Ivorians "reboosted" by Diomande's success at OL
Since October 8 and a friendly match against Belgium (1-1), Sinaly Diomande has also become an Ivorian international (3 selections in total).
Being called with the Elephants allowed him to become a real curiosity in his country.
“His performances have already led to comparisons with Eric Bailly [Manchester United], indicates the head of the influential Instagram account Pépite 225 (28,000 subscribers), devoted to Ivorian talents.
He arrives out of nowhere and his ascent is meteoric.
He is the only current player out of the JMG academy in the national team, and that automatically makes us think of the generation of Kolo Touré.
"
At 19, Sinaly Diomande has already joined the Ivorian selection on October 8 in Brussels against Belgium (1-1).
- NEW CHINA / SIPA
His friend Daouda Sylla, player in Al-Shoalah (Saudi Arabia), often faced him in Ivory Coast, when he was playing at OS Abobo.
“Sinaly has always been a warrior,” says the 24-year-old midfielder.
He's a very shy person in life, but once he's confident on the pitch it's over, he does it all.
I know a lot of young Ivorian players who got discouraged from football, and gave up their dream of becoming pro.
Thanks to the explosion of Sinaly, OL and the national team, it has reboosted them all recently.
Barefoot juggling workshops will become a trend in Abobo.
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