Don’t we all love a blooper or two about the beautiful game? Professional footballers, besides being marketable personalities who are paid hefty sums of money to kick a ball all year long, are also average human beings who do make a rookie mistake or two when the world is watching.
The instances are often hilarious and often end up going viral on the internet, but it is what makes the sport real in a way beyond the pitch.
Such an instance occurred recently, when a Ligue 2 forward tried to pick the whole stand instead of only his Man of the Match award.
Mamadou Diallo was the man of the match as Grenoble Foot 38 won 2-0 against Troyes in a Ligue 2 game last night. When awarded with the Man of the Match award in the post-match press conference, the Senegalese footballer tried to pick up the whole award stand instead of just the trophy: and in turn, became an overnight viral sensation online.
Big fan of Grenoble’s Mamadou Diallo trying to pick up the *whole stand* thinking that it is his Man of the Match award. pic.twitter.com/0d0lyYAQUc
— Chris Wise (@chriswisey) December 23, 2020
The 26-year-old was corrected by the Ligue 2 interviewer, but it would turn out that he would eventually take the award home the same night: along with the award base.
Soon after the game, the official Grenoble Twitter account posted a picture of Diallo sitting in his car with the stand in his trunk.
It was a breath of fresh air to see that Diallo took the unfortunately hilarious display of ignorance in his stride, and saw the funny side of the incident: as his team Grenoble claimed all three points on the night to overtake their opponents Troyes at the top of the Ligue 2 points table.