Mystique before Senegal-France: El Hadji Diouf's revelations, "after the draw, Mbappé's father called me and told me..."

Mystique before Senegal-France: El Hadji Diouf's revelations, "after the draw, Mbappé's father called me and told me..."

Was Zinedine Zidane under a spell in 2002, just before facing the Lions of Senegal? Some French people still believe so. Among them is Wilfried Mbappé, father of the French captain, Kylian Mbappé.

On L'Equipe, former Lions star El Hadji Diouf, who was instrumental in the 1-0 victory in 2002, reveals that the Real Madrid footballer's father called him on the phone after the draw to ask him not to put a spell on his son.

“After the draw, the first person to call me was my brother Wilfrid (Mbappé). He told me: ‘You have to be careful with my son. You mustn’t do what you did with Zidane’ (meaning: put a spell on him). I replied: ‘We’re going to do what Zidane did. Your son isn’t going to play’,” El Hadji Diouf said with a smile.

The player who provided the decisive pass for Bouba Diop's goal doesn't share this view at all, hoping to see Senegal beat France with Kylian Mbappé. "Of course I want to see these teams with their best players. Football is first and foremost a spectacle. A match without Mbappé? No way! I was very happy to beat France without Zidane. But with Mr. Zidane, it would have been something else entirely," Diouf concluded.

In 2002, a Senegalese marabout announced in a video that Zinedine Zidane, then one of the best footballers in the world, would not play against Senegal. Ironically, during France's final warm-up match, the French playmaker was forced off with an injury and missed the game against Senegal. He only returned for the third group stage match, but was unable to help France advance from the group stage.