He had been waiting for six months and two weeks to play football again. Sunday, against Herbiers in the Coupe de France, Djibril Diaw played his first match since May 17 with Laval in Guingamp, in Ligue 2 (1-0). “Competing has nothing to do with training. At this level there is a lot of racing. Physically, we have to get back together,” he said.
Playing with the Girondins, the 29-year-old defender had been waiting for this since September 19 and his signing with the Bordeaux club but he was blocked by the Ukrainian club Lviv, with which he was linked until June. Before finding himself on the Matmut Atlantique field, this Saturday against Saint-Brieuc, this son of a construction entrepreneur in Dakar, Senegalese international (a selection in 2019), looked back on this period and a journey which allows him today today to know five languages: Wolof, French, English, Polish and Russian.
His three month wait for qualification
“The hardest part was coming to Matmut to see the matches without being able to play. By signing, I imagined myself being on the pitch the following Saturday against Châteaubriant (2-2). I told myself that it would be resolved quickly but the longer it dragged on, the more complicated it was psychologically. I’m staying at the training center, I had set December as the deadline. Lviv wanted money because I signed for three and a half years (in January 2021) and never played there. They wanted me to come back. In 2022-2023, they agreed to loan me (to Laval), but last season I already had to rely on the FIFA circular (1). John (Williams) and Bruno (Irles) did their best, I got closer to the UNFP. »
The choice not to return to Lviv
“For me, it was impossible. They live normally, but things can go wrong at any time, flying is prohibited and so there are no planes. I arrived there a month before the war. When it broke, I left the first day. I arrived at the Polish border at 4 p.m., with people everywhere. I passed it at midnight. On the road, I came across battle tanks. It remains a trauma. It’s a shame because the facilities and the stadium are great. I had signed there to settle down. »
The choice of the Girondins last summer
“Laval (Ligue 2) and I were ready to continue together. But the negotiations were unsuccessful. At the start of the transfer window, I had opportunities in L2, abroad but it didn’t happen. We met in August, I had not done any collective preparation. When Bordeaux contacted me, I immediately said to myself that it was a great challenge. I am a man of challenges and putting his name in the history of this club is one of them. »
Senegal, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania: the globetrotting life
“I was trained at Jeanne d’Arc in Dakar, the club where my father played. I started early in Senegalese D1, but I was in a family where studies came first. It turned on a match that the Belgian club Geel (then in D2) had come to supervise for another player. I was good and they took me. But I was regularly selected in u23 and if I left for the national team, the coach did not align me. I have a contact in Poland (in Kielce) and I left (from 2016 to 2019). It allowed me to discover the professionalism and the rhythm in Europe. In Lithuania (at Zalgiris Vilnius, in 2021 and 2022), I was champion and I won the Cup. There are four strong teams. If you don’t win the right way, it’s a crisis. It taught me the culture of winning. And I was able to play the qualifiers for the Champions League and the Europa League in great atmospheres. »
Failures in Angers and Caen, development in Laval
“Coming to France has always been a goal. Basically, Sochaux (L2) wanted me in 2019. But they were supervised by the DNCG. Angers (L1) could, signed me (in January 2019) and had to loan me there. It collapsed. The following summer, they loaned me to Caen. It didn’t start very well and when I had the opportunity to play, Covid stopped the season. In Angers, they didn’t count on me. I canceled. In Laval, I discovered a family club. The president and the coach put me in the best possible condition. The first season, I scored the goal to stay in L2, on the last corner of the last day. Not my hardest goal, but the strongest moment of my career. When we come back from the dead, we build on what we have learned and we had a great season last season (7th, Editor’s note). »
The Senegalese selection
“As a kid, I played striker. It was Aliou Cissé, then U23 coach, who placed me in central defense. We had a great generation with Ismaila Sarr (Crystal palace, ex-Rennes and Marseille), Habib Diallo (ex Strasbourg), Moussa Wagué (ex-Barcelona and Nice). We were gold medalists at the African Games, we came very close to qualifying for the Olympic Games: we lost in the semi-final against Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen (Gatalasaray, ex-Lille and Naples). He was already going fast! The A’s came at a time when I didn’t expect them. I was a reservist. Koulibaly was injured, and I was called up and I found myself starting as left back against Mali. We won (2-1), it was a source of pride. Aliou Cissé was counting on me and there was CAN 2019. Unfortunately, I signed for Angers where I didn’t have any playing time. It was a big disappointment. »
Ambitions now
“I signed for one season, with an option in the event of a move up. Here, the training, the facilities, it’s professional. Even if we fell behind at the beginning, with hard work, we progress. I experienced big atmospheres in Eastern Europe, packed stadiums during matches at Lech Poznan, Legia Warsaw or in the European Cup in Ferencvaros (Hungary). Seeing supporters singing an entire match in front of the stadium gates while the match was behind closed doors, I had never experienced that. We want to give back to people. I want to give everything for Bordeaux, and then we’ll see. »
(1) It authorizes foreign players who signed a contract with a Ukrainian club before the outbreak of the conflict to unilaterally commit elsewhere.
The match
Girondins (4th/17 pts) – Saint-Brieuc (9th/14 pts), this Saturday at 6 p.m. at Matmut Atlantique.
