Diao already attracting the best

Liverpool bound?

Senegal might have lost Patrick Viera to France, but in Salif Diao they have a ready-made replacement who is attracting the likes of Liverpool.

Diao has already played with some of the very best, so he won't be intimidated with the thought of linking up with the likes of Michael Owen. At Monaco, his coach was Jean Tigana. Tigana helped him believe in himself by playing him alongside the likes of Fabien Barthez, Thierry Henry and David Trezeuget.

He's packed a lot into his career already, having moved to France at just 17, and now at 25 is moving into his best footballing years.

At Monaco he won championship medals in 1997 and 2000, but injury also struck and Diao says he thought about giving the game up. Then in June 2000 came the move to Sedan that has revitalized his career.

Diao gets on well with the people at Sedan and you sense that is important to him. Afterall, he's a deep thinker who is interested in more than the usual football topics. How many players list peace in one of their country's regional disputes as one of their interests?

Senegal coach Bruno Metsu calls him a midfield giant, taking on enormous responsibility for the rest of the team. "He has always responded to demands made on him and he won't stay long at Sedan."

All that is domestic football. What matters now is the World Cup.

The Nations Cup was the ideal warm-up for Senegal. After the final Diao said: "we'll have to work a lot harder if we are to make an impact in the World Cup. The Nations Cup was a good experience for us because it was the first time we had played big games like that. We really needed the experience because for us it was the first time."

"The group is a good group. France are a good draw for me. Denmark and Uruguay are also good teams but Senegal will have a good argument to make to go to the next round."

"I think Africa in general have a good chance to make progress in the World Cup. People should not write off Tunisia and South Africa because of their African Cup of Nations campaigns."

Diao is one reason why Senegal can emerge from their own group of death.

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