Ousmane Diomande: Did Sporting influence Ivory Coast call-up? | OneFootball

Ousmane Diomande learned last Thursday, November 6th, that he was left out of the Ivory Coast's selection for the matches against Saudi Arabia and Oman, which are part of the preparation for the CAN. Although such news is not bad for Sporting, the club's management was not involved in the decision.

According to the newspaper A Bola, the green and white officials were completely uninvolved in this process and did not interfere in any way to prevent the defender from being called up by Emerse Faé - just as they will not interfere when it comes to the official call-up for the African competition.

Diomande seems to have 'missed the train' with his national team due to the muscle injury he suffered at the start of the season, which sidelined him for two months. Now, the defender has not yet given up on being considered by the coach and helping his country.

Despite this, the possibility turns out to be good news for Sporting, as the team might not lose one of their main defenders for a month - this is because the CAN will be held in Morocco, from December to January 2026.

This season, Ousmane Diomande – valued at 45 million euros – has played seven matches for Sporting: three in the Liga Portugal Betclic, two in the Champions League, one in the Portuguese Cup, and another in the Super Cup. In total, the central defender has accumulated 497 minutes.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.