2026-03-29 13:32:22
Yan Diomande had to be encouraged to play in a more “selfish” way.
The RB Leipzig winger began his career at the DME Academy, an elite private sports school in Florida, and while director of soccer Todd Eason was used to seeing talented youngsters, he was in awe of the way the teenager played the game.
He recalled to World Soccer magazine: “Yan came to us from one of our partners in Africa.
“I knew right away there was something different about him…
“He could see things and he knew what was being asked of him without having things explained to him.”
But the 19-year-old Ivory Coast international had to be urged to seize chances in front of goal for himself.
Todd remembered: “He was such a dominant player, but he was always looking to lay balls off to our number nine or whatnot, he wasn’t selfish at all.
“There were a lot of times when I knew he could just do it.
“There were times that he could just take over a game if he wanted to and score, but he never did.
“He was a very unselfish player.
“We actually tried to get him to recognise the times to be selfish and then recognise the times that being able to lay balls off was a better option.
“He had such an intelligence and humility for the game.”
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