Diouf Insults African Nations

Filed in archive Africa on January 28, 2006

source: 123football.com

Apparently tired of making enemies in North-West England, El-Hadji Diouf has decided to insult entire African nations. The Senegalese forward said

"I think the wrong teams are going to the World Cup. If you have seen Ghana, and then you see Cameroon, Senegal and Nigeria, you know the wrong team is going."

The talented striker, who plays for Bolton in the Premiership, has been involved in a string of controversies lately, mostly involving his saliva. He's been spitting at everyone from supporters (Celtic fans) to fellow players (Arjen De Zeeuw) to, bizarrely, the homeless (that Big Issue seller). It get's worse. He successfully claimed Legal Aid to fight a court case involving the homeless man, depsite earning around £35,000 every week. He was recently fined for not paying his television lisence fee, and in 2005 he was caught parking in a disabled bay. Charming.

Now the former African footballer Of The Year is so convinced that the continent's five World Cup qualifiers (Ghana, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Togo and Angola) will fail in Germany that he won't even watch. "I'm going on holiday with my family," he said. "If I watched it I would cry."

Well, maybe the scoreline from yesterday's African Nations Cup Group D game will make Mr. Diouf think again. Though Ghana were missing several of their high-profile players, including Chelsea's Michael Essien, they beat Diouf and Senegal 1-0 with a 13th minute goal from Matthew Amoah.