Yan Diomande has had a “crazy life” and he’s still only 19. In two years, Diomande has gone from playing at a Florida high school to facing the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Now the winger is heading to back to the United States for his first World Cup as one of the most-hyped young players at the tournament.“That was this crazy life,” he told reporters last week, shortly before he was named to the Ivory Coast roster. “Everything went fast.”While most of the world’s top teen players were at storied club academies in Europe, Diomande was playing for DME Academy in Daytona Beach and taking local club team AS Frenzi to a national title. He returns as the German league’s rookie of the year after he scored 12 goals and assisted nine more this season for Leipzig.
A lonely time Diomande arrived in Florida from the Ivory Coast aged just 15, without any family members and speaking only French. He’s grateful for what he learned in the U.S., but the memories are bittersweet. “Really far away from your family, from your friends, and from the people you love, and I didn’t speak English before, so it was really difficult for me, but that was a great experience to be there,” he said. Diomande took the unusual career path via Florida at a time when he was too young under international soccer rules to sign a pro contract outside of his home country.
