10 – Khalilou Fadiga – Midfielder – 27
Khalilou almost never made it to the World Cup for Senegal. He had declared his original allegiance to Belgium after spending the first part of his career with Belgian teams and eventually getting a Belgian passport, but was politely informed his international chances would be extremely limited. Before the tournament kicked off, he was arrested in Korea for stealing a necklace from a jewellers as a ‘prank’ and only avoided prosecution as the shopkeeper declined to press charges!
Fadiga was in the middle of a successful spell in France with Auxerre by the time of the World Cup, and his form in Japan/Korea along with his French league performances would earn him a move to Italian giants Inter Milan in the summer 2003. Sadly, he never appeared for the club after being diagnosed with a heart defect. Club doctors advised him to retire but he refused. He would then sign for Bolton for the start of the 2004-05 season, but collapsed on the field during a warm-up before a game. He would be fitted with a defibrillator due to an irregular heartbeat. Medical specialists again urged him to retire, warning that if during a game his chest was knocked the defibrillator could fail, leading to instant death.
He would play on after passing medicals, but he wasn’t the same player that dazzled the world in the World Cup and would retire in 2011 with Belgian third division side KSV Temse, only playing 50 professional league games for clubs in England and Belgium since 2004.
11 – El-Hadji Diouf – Striker – 21
El-Hadji scored eight of Senegal’s 14 goals during qualification for the World Cup, earning him the nickname of the ‘Serial Killer’. Yeah.
He played all five games during Senegal’s run to the quarter finals, and his superb form earned him a £10 million move to Liverpool in August 2002. He got off to a fantastic start by scoring twice in his Anfield début. However, he wouldn’t score again for Liverpool until March 2003 and struggled throughout his two year spell. He was sent out on loan for the 2004-05 season after spitting at a Celtic fan during a UEFA Cup game in Celtic Park in March 2003, and also having a terrible attitude and a lack of goals during the 2003-04 season.
He moved to Bolton on a permanent basis in 2005 after spending a season on loan there. He left the club at the end of the 2007-08 season, citing a need for a new challenge. While at Bolton, Diouf was banned from international football for four matches in 2004 for a verbal assault on a referee, and retired from the international team in 2007 in a temper tantrum. He was back in the Senegal squad next month. I’m aiming to keep this part fairly short, so I’ll direct you here for all his transgressions!
Diouf would then flop at Sunderland for six months before moving to Blackburn in January 2009. He got off to a fairly good start but would fall out of favour at the club during the 2010-11 season, and would move to Rangers on loan for six months in January 2011. His Blackburn contract was terminated in August 2011 after falling out with Steve Kean.
Diouf celebrating winning the Scottish League Cup with Rangers in 2011. Courtesy of Botham1983
He signed for Doncaster in October 2011 on a three month contract, and impressed enough to earn an extension on that deal until the end of the 2011-12 season, when he would move to Leeds, where he remains at the time of writing.
