January 17, (THEWILL) – Badra Ali Sangare, the Ivory Coast goalkeeper, learnt of his father’s death on Monday, only hours after making headlines for a calamitous blunder in his team’s TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations match against Sierra Leone, as THEWILL reported.
In a formal statement, the Ivorian Football Federation noted: “It is with great sadness that the Ivorian national team learned of the death in the night of January 16-17 of the father of goalkeeper Badra Ali Sangare.”
With first-choice Ivorian goalkeeper Sylvain Gbohouo serving a doping suspension, Sangare took over goalkeeping responsibilities for the Elephants of Ivory Coast in this year’s continental competition.
In the fated Sunday’s game against Sierra Leone, Sangare went for the ball that was headed back to him by a teammate in an attempt to prevent a corner with the Ivorians leading 2-1 in the third minute of injury time.
Unfortunately, he dropped the ball, allowing Alhaji Kamara of Sierra Leone to equalise. Sangare was then forced to leave the field due to injury, enabling right-back Serge Aurier to finish the game between the posts.
The news comes on the heels of teammate Max-Alain Gradel’s father passing away on the eve of the AFCON. After scoring in the Ivory Coast’s 1-0 triumph over Equatorial Guinea, Gradel broke into tears.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
