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The world of football is full of weird stories, and today we here at the best betting software will take a look at one of them!
In the year 1996, a Senegalese would play only one match for Southampton, enough to be considered the worst player in the history of English soccer, and this is his story.
Lets Talk About Ali Dia...
With the World Cup, there are already countless moments that have gone viral among internet users since the opening of the event last Sunday, 20. Outside the World Cup, other curious moments have also marked the history of soccer, such as the case of a prankster who made a stranger play in an official match.
The Premier League has already rolled out the carpet for great players of world soccer. In the land of the Queen, athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Andriy Shevchenko, Didier Drogba, Eric Cantona and... Ali Dia?
You probably don't remember him, but the "cousin" of the legendary George Weah, FIFA World Player of the Year 1995, also showed all his charm in the most competitive championship of the planet. Don't remember him? No problem, Dia's trajectory is shorter than many imagine.
Ali Who?
In November 1996 the Premier League would witness one of the most unusual moments in the history of soccer, and the world of the ball has many crazy stories. It all started with a simple phone call.
It turned out that the person who answered the phone call was not just anyone, but the legendary coach Graeme Souness, who had had great success with Rangers in Scotland, and with the mighty Liverpool. Besides the Reds, he also managed Newcastle and Blackburn in England, but it was with Southampton that all this happened.
Back on the subject, on the other end of the line, at least that's what Souness thought, was Liberian George Weah, who was trying to find a spot for his cousin, a yet-to-be-discovered star who, according to Weah, had scored two goals in Senegal's last victory in the African qualifiers, as reported by ESPN.
Graeme did not think twice and immediately asked for the signing of Ali Dia. "He played with Weah at PSG and was in the German second division. We will take a look at him," said the coach on the day of the presentation of the 'future promise'.
It turns out that Dia was not Weah's cousin, let alone a soccer player. An economics student, he dreams of playing at least one Premier League match. So one of his friends decided to use all his powers of imitation and made a prank call on Souness and, surprisingly, the lie stuck.
At that time, the Saints were suffering from intense injuries to their attacking players, and a reinforcement would not go amiss. What they didn't know was that Dia was a football player who only played on weekends. The closest he came to soccer success was playing in amateur teams in France and semi-amateur teams in England.
53 minutes
Already in the routine inside Southampton, Dia even participated in some training sessions, but nothing that made a good impression. However, as that phrase that many attribute to Ênio de Andrade says: "The problem with having a bad player in the squad is that one hour he ends up playing." And that's how the soccer gods decided to act with Ali.
On one occasion, he had been scheduled for a match against Arsenal. However, what would have been a Saint's match with his reserve team did not happen, as a rainstorm flooded the field and the game had to be canceled, as reported by ESPN.
In the following match against Leeds United, however, Ali Dia was called up, but started the match on the bench. But in the 32nd minute of the first half, Matt Le Tissier, one of the greatest idols in the history of Southampton, was injured.
The time had come for Ali Dia to play. As you can imagine, the word that described his performance could not be other than 'tragic'. To give you an idea of how his moments on the field went, he did not even finish the match, replaced in the 40th minute by Ken Monkou.
Ali's career in the Premier League lasted exactly 53 minutes. As if Souness' disappointment was not enough, things got even worse as his team was defeated 2-0.
Thing were not as they seemed!
"That was unbelievable. He looked like Bambi running on ice. It was extremely embarrassing to watch. It was quite a bizarre situation," Le Tissier laughingly stated years later in a documentary about English soccer, ESPN reports.
"The day after [the match] I went to the club to treat my injury and I found him there, also in the medical department, as he said he had been injured in the match. Afterwards, he was never seen again."
Coach only discovered the trap he had gotten himself into after calling the real George Weah and hearing from his voice that he knew nothing of what happened. Even then, Ali Dia came forward once again.
In an interview with Sky Sport days later, he kept his lie and claimed that he was a great player, but that he still needed to adapt. "The coach told me that George called him and said I am a good player. I am not afraid to say that I am a good player. I can and will prove it," he declared.
However, he did not have even a few more minutes of extra time to show this, as he never stepped on the pitch again. In addition, as ESPN points out, it was discovered shortly afterwards that Dia was 31 years old and not 22 as had been reported.
Ali Dia, or "Weah's cousin," depends on who you ask, was dismissed after two weeks from Southampton, ending his meteoric career the following year after being signed by Gateshead's semi-amateur team, where he scored two games in eight appearances, according to his accounts.
After the Mess
Years later, Bleacher Report managed to find him for an interview. Living in London, he criticized the local press for defaming him and further revealed that he only told his family members about his journey days before because of the reporting team that was after him.
"They [press] portrayed me as a liar, and that is not true. I played for Paris Saint-Germain, in the second division, from 1986 to 1988. And I helped win the Paris Cup, in 1986 or 1987.... It has been a while," he said.
About his time with the Saints, he even tried to explain himself. "I trained against the first team, for the reserve team, for two weeks. They knew about my abilities. There was one last game before Leeds, 11 against 11, and I scored two or three goals. It was on fire. I earned the right to be there. Souness said, 'You're in for tomorrow, be ready.
"I have a clear conscience. God will be our judge," he concluded. Although many fans are not fans of Ali Dia's catastrophic departure and try to forget the episode, English newspapers, such as The Times and The Sun, will never do this, as they constantly place him first in lists of the worst players in Premier League history.
We hope you liked this little piece about the weird world of sports, and if you did, stay tuned because bettingsoftware.com will be back soon with more great content for you!
In the year 1996, a Senegalese would play only one match for Southampton, enough to be considered the worst player in the history of English soccer, and this is his story.
Lets Talk About Ali Dia...
With the World Cup, there are already countless moments that have gone viral among internet users since the opening of the event last Sunday, 20. Outside the World Cup, other curious moments have also marked the history of soccer, such as the case of a prankster who made a stranger play in an official match.
The Premier League has already rolled out the carpet for great players of world soccer. In the land of the Queen, athletes such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Andriy Shevchenko, Didier Drogba, Eric Cantona and... Ali Dia?
You probably don't remember him, but the "cousin" of the legendary George Weah, FIFA World Player of the Year 1995, also showed all his charm in the most competitive championship of the planet. Don't remember him? No problem, Dia's trajectory is shorter than many imagine.
Ali Who?
In November 1996 the Premier League would witness one of the most unusual moments in the history of soccer, and the world of the ball has many crazy stories. It all started with a simple phone call.
It turned out that the person who answered the phone call was not just anyone, but the legendary coach Graeme Souness, who had had great success with Rangers in Scotland, and with the mighty Liverpool. Besides the Reds, he also managed Newcastle and Blackburn in England, but it was with Southampton that all this happened.
Back on the subject, on the other end of the line, at least that's what Souness thought, was Liberian George Weah, who was trying to find a spot for his cousin, a yet-to-be-discovered star who, according to Weah, had scored two goals in Senegal's last victory in the African qualifiers, as reported by ESPN.
Graeme did not think twice and immediately asked for the signing of Ali Dia. "He played with Weah at PSG and was in the German second division. We will take a look at him," said the coach on the day of the presentation of the 'future promise'.
It turns out that Dia was not Weah's cousin, let alone a soccer player. An economics student, he dreams of playing at least one Premier League match. So one of his friends decided to use all his powers of imitation and made a prank call on Souness and, surprisingly, the lie stuck.
At that time, the Saints were suffering from intense injuries to their attacking players, and a reinforcement would not go amiss. What they didn't know was that Dia was a football player who only played on weekends. The closest he came to soccer success was playing in amateur teams in France and semi-amateur teams in England.
53 minutes
Already in the routine inside Southampton, Dia even participated in some training sessions, but nothing that made a good impression. However, as that phrase that many attribute to Ênio de Andrade says: "The problem with having a bad player in the squad is that one hour he ends up playing." And that's how the soccer gods decided to act with Ali.
On one occasion, he had been scheduled for a match against Arsenal. However, what would have been a Saint's match with his reserve team did not happen, as a rainstorm flooded the field and the game had to be canceled, as reported by ESPN.
In the following match against Leeds United, however, Ali Dia was called up, but started the match on the bench. But in the 32nd minute of the first half, Matt Le Tissier, one of the greatest idols in the history of Southampton, was injured.
The time had come for Ali Dia to play. As you can imagine, the word that described his performance could not be other than 'tragic'. To give you an idea of how his moments on the field went, he did not even finish the match, replaced in the 40th minute by Ken Monkou.
Ali's career in the Premier League lasted exactly 53 minutes. As if Souness' disappointment was not enough, things got even worse as his team was defeated 2-0.
Thing were not as they seemed!
"That was unbelievable. He looked like Bambi running on ice. It was extremely embarrassing to watch. It was quite a bizarre situation," Le Tissier laughingly stated years later in a documentary about English soccer, ESPN reports.
"The day after [the match] I went to the club to treat my injury and I found him there, also in the medical department, as he said he had been injured in the match. Afterwards, he was never seen again."
Coach only discovered the trap he had gotten himself into after calling the real George Weah and hearing from his voice that he knew nothing of what happened. Even then, Ali Dia came forward once again.
In an interview with Sky Sport days later, he kept his lie and claimed that he was a great player, but that he still needed to adapt. "The coach told me that George called him and said I am a good player. I am not afraid to say that I am a good player. I can and will prove it," he declared.
However, he did not have even a few more minutes of extra time to show this, as he never stepped on the pitch again. In addition, as ESPN points out, it was discovered shortly afterwards that Dia was 31 years old and not 22 as had been reported.
Ali Dia, or "Weah's cousin," depends on who you ask, was dismissed after two weeks from Southampton, ending his meteoric career the following year after being signed by Gateshead's semi-amateur team, where he scored two games in eight appearances, according to his accounts.
After the Mess
Years later, Bleacher Report managed to find him for an interview. Living in London, he criticized the local press for defaming him and further revealed that he only told his family members about his journey days before because of the reporting team that was after him.
"They [press] portrayed me as a liar, and that is not true. I played for Paris Saint-Germain, in the second division, from 1986 to 1988. And I helped win the Paris Cup, in 1986 or 1987.... It has been a while," he said.
About his time with the Saints, he even tried to explain himself. "I trained against the first team, for the reserve team, for two weeks. They knew about my abilities. There was one last game before Leeds, 11 against 11, and I scored two or three goals. It was on fire. I earned the right to be there. Souness said, 'You're in for tomorrow, be ready.
"I have a clear conscience. God will be our judge," he concluded. Although many fans are not fans of Ali Dia's catastrophic departure and try to forget the episode, English newspapers, such as The Times and The Sun, will never do this, as they constantly place him first in lists of the worst players in Premier League history.
We hope you liked this little piece about the weird world of sports, and if you did, stay tuned because bettingsoftware.com will be back soon with more great content for you!
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