“We had studied everything.” But then he gets expelled (and apologizes to the referee)-Corriere.it

The villain of the fairy tale about the Napoli scudetto he is a boy who until a few years ago was an electrician. A car breakdown denied him the tryout with Saint-Etienne, he didn’t grow fast enough and Lyon rejected him. The father complains, football is not reliable: so Boulaye Dia starts studying and graduates. Electrician, a safe job. Yet the ball is too strong a call. Just wait for the right moment. It has arrived: the Europa League won with Villarreal in 2021, the African Cup with Senegal the following year, this season as a protagonist in Serie A (already 12 goals and 6 assists).

Dia, born in the French Alps from a family originally from Senegal, is the improper weapon with which Salernitana extinguishes the scream of Maradona. He scores in his own way, with conscious arrogance: tunnel in Osimhen and round shot that beats Meret. “Nobody thought he was that strong. We’ll do everything to keep him», rejoices De Sanctis, ds of the grenade. “His goal was an extraordinary one,” admits Paulo Sousa, leader of a team capable of putting together nine useful results in a row. The Portuguese coach is the ambitious bet of president Iervolino who, midway through the season, sacked Nicola and called a coach with an international profilebut returning from difficult experiences between China (Tianjin) and Brazil (Flamengo).

Sousa understood how to annoy Napoli: stay low, don’t give space to the speed of Osimhen and Kvara, hurt in the restarts. “I don’t like spending most of the match with a block in front of the defence,” admitted the Portuguese. «We studied to understand the right moment to go and attack them. We have to think we can win all the games », again Sousa, expelled for protests by the referee Marcenaro, with whom he apologized (“I’m very passionate”). Too much tension, even a pinch of revenge for a team, his, given up before taking the field.

Instead on Naples day Salerno is partying, which welcomed its heroes returning from Maradona with carousels, choirs, waving flags. Pride for the drawn derby and for a convenient point, another small step towards salvation. Playing like this, the road to the finish line is downhill.