Dyego Sousa, the ‘matador’ who assaults the kingdom of Umar Sadiq

Dyego Sousa is the name of the current Almeria. The Brazilian forward was the great surprise in the eleven that Rubi lined up last Sunday in Montilivi as he was the replacement for Umar Sadiq. The Nigerian, with seven goals in his locker, had scored one and given two assists three days earlier, at 3-1 against Real Sociedad B. Hence, Dyego Sousa’s mission was not at all simple: to make one of the most decisive players in the Second Division forget for an hour, if not the most. But the Portuguese more than complied, making a Triplet that goes down in the history of the club and that serves the Almeria team to recover the first position that Eibar had taken the night from him on Friday.

When Dyego Sousa jumped to the green in the final moments against Tenerife and Las Palmas, the names of Edoardo Soleri, Juanjo Expósito o Teerasil Dangda began to be heard in the Stadium of the Mediterranean Games, although the Brazilian could not be considered or bluff, since the expectations that the fans placed in him were not too high, above all, when Rubi pointed out that “he had not touched a ball for more than eight months.” “I have not been standing still,” replied the player himself in his presentation, claiming to be in good physical shape despite the fact that the competition stopped in China due to the health situation. From Chinese lands, specifically, from Shenzhen he reached Almería, although the Asian entity gave him to Benfica and Famalicao.

“He is a player of the highest level, extraordinary, who if it weren’t for special circumstances, he would not come to Almería. The fact that he has been inactive has allowed us to bring him in. He has spectacular genetics and important physical values [mide 1’90 metros]”, commented a Rubi who saw how Joao Gonçalves brought him a striker for whom Shenzhen paid 15 million euros in 2019 to Sporting de Braga. Nor was it a bad sign that in March 2019 shared changing room with Cristiano Ronaldo in a Portugal 0-0 Ukraine qualifier for the last European Championship. However, when he reached the Mediterranean, he was forced to drop some weight and get back into physical shape and competitive pace. And the player born in the Brazilian town of São José de Ribamar 32 years ago (one of the oldest in the Indálico dressing room) has achieved it, scoring a sensational performance in Miranda de Ebro with a triplet and an assist to remember, possibly the best debut as a starter of a forward with the red-and-white jersey.

The Brazilian also likes the show, as shown in his celebrations. In Anduva he had time to receive the congratulations of his companions, dance with Samu Costa and do his gesture of cutting heads. “My gesture in the goal I already did at Sporting de Braga, it is a ‘matador’, a man who scores goals and cuts heads,” explained a Dyego Sousa himself on Sunday. In July 2016, when he was a member of the Marítimo, he attacked the assistant referee Eduardo Alves in a friendly against Tondela, being sanctioned with nine months, six three to appeal. After training in Sao Paulo and Palmeiras, he crossed the pond with 17 springs to enroll in the youth team of Nacional de Portugal, returning to Brazil to play in the Moto Club and in the Railway Operator. He also played in Angola, where he defended the Interclube sheepskin and in Portugal, those of Leixões, Tondela, Portimonense and Sporting de Braga, in addition to the aforementioned Marítimo, Benfica and Famalicao, playing Europa League in Lisbon and Braga. In Almería his role is that the absence of Sadiq is not noticed. In his first big appearance, he fulfilled it.