Football - Senegal: Bamba Dieng, the resurrection
Has FC Lorient finally found the best of Bamba Dieng? The Senegalese striker has been experiencing a renaissance for a month and continues to score. Before the derby of Brittany last weekend, the former OM player was on a crazy streak of 7 goals in his last 4 matches. At 25 years old, he seems to find a new breath to restart his career.
Philemon MBALE · Author profile ·
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A crazy series to return in the plans of Pantaloons
It’s a fairy tale that only football is capable of offering. Totally in the closet at FC Lorient at the beginning of the season, Bamba Dieng was on the list to leave the Breton club last summer. Due to a lack of conclusive offers, Olivier Pantaloon reintegrated him into the first team after a stint in the reserve team. Some appearances here and there on the match sheet in Ligue 1 but nothing to show for the former Diambars trainee.
A first entry into play during the 2-0 defeat of the Merlus away to Paris FC. A 2nd just after the international break in October in place of Pablo Pagis, punctuated by an assist for the equalizer goal by Sambou Soumano at the 89th (3-3 against Brest). Then, almost nothing for a month until 20 December when he gets his first of the season in the Coupe de France against Gosier. Dieng gets a hattrick during Lorient's walk over the Regional 1 club.
Since then, Bamba Dieng has not stopped scoring goals. He scores on each of his runs. Striker out of the bench upon returning from vacation in Ligue 1 to avoid a defeat for Les Merlus against Metz (1-1). Doubled a week later in the Coupe de France, during Lorient’s 1-3 victory away at Haut Lyonnais. He also continues in the championship by opening the score during the big shot made at Monaco (1-3). Performances that allow him to move ahead of his compatriot Sambou Soumano and his Ivorian namesake, Mohamed Bamba.
A direct knock on the door for the World Cup
This sudden resurrection, Bamba Dieng owes it first and foremost to his strength of character. His resilience, at the moment when doubts about his ability to regain his level began to be more and more persistent, eventually paid off. The mixed first season at FC Lorient, the inconclusive loan to the SCO of Angers had pushed the Merlus to try to get rid of it last summer. Dieng was able to lower his head, refocus on the invisible work and wait for a new train passage. A chance that has therefore presented itself again thanks to Olivier Pantaloat.
After convincing the Corsican technician, Dieng can now attack Pape Thiaw. Since he took over the Senegalese team 15 months ago, the Senegalese technician has never called the 25-year-old striker. The lack of regular performances in Angers and Lorient, but also the enormous offensive reservoir of the Lions, logically explain this non-return in the Lions' den. Recently crowned with a 2nd continental title in Morocco, the Senegal team seems very far from the goal of the striker Merlu.
To hope to reverse the steam and move ahead of Nicolas Jackson, Habib Diallo, Boulaye Dia or even Chérif Ndiaye, Bamba Dieng knows what he has to do. African champion in 2022, scorer in the eighth round against Cape Verde (2-0) at this AFCON, Bamba Dieng will have to continue to play for goals in the league and in the Coupe de France. This last competition that particularly succeeds him and where he is the top scorer with 5 goals in two games, could even be a goal for him with the elimination of the ogre PSG. A second part of the exciting season is coming for Dieng, with the 2026 World Cup in America as the highlight.