Sad words from Cheikhou Kouyaté after the death of his father

In an interview with our colleagues at APS, Senegalese midfielder Cheikhou Kouyaté reflected on the death of his father during the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast 2023.

“I felt my father’s death long before I was told, because 24 hours before, I had chills. I felt a chill. During training, Gana and my teammates teased me about dressing for winter while it was very hot in Yamoussoukro,” he revealed in an interview with APS. “I tried to explain that I was feeling cold, but they kept teasing me. Once at the hotel, I told Gana again that I felt heavy and something was not right. It was as if I was catching the flu. A few hours later, I was called to be told the news,” said the Senegalese international.

Cheikh Kouyaté admitted to being scared after receiving this terrible news. “Why was I scared? Simply because I thought a part of me had gone. I turned to Idrissa Guèye and said to him: praise be to Allah, the only one,” he explained. “Immediately, Idy [Gana Guèye] told me that a part of you has gone, it’s hard to lose a parent, but you have to rely on God. He brought me back to reason to accept the situation,” he said about the support of his fellow Lions midfielder who helped him surrender everything to God, according to him.