Ivory Coast teenager Yan Diomande has paid an emotional tribute to his sister Roxane who died last year at the age of 15 in a letter published during the World Cup on Wednesday.
"Dear Roxane, remember..." Diomande said as he recalled their childhood in Abidjan and how she always believed that he would become a global star.
"You were the one who always believed that I could be the next Cristiano [Ronaldo], when everybody else laughed," the letter published along with photos from their childhood in The Players' Tribune said.
The 19-year-old said he was writing the letter before the World Cup because he couldn't speak about it.
"The pitch is the only place that I feel at home anymore. It’s the place where I feel calm, and I can speak to you. I just wish you were still here so I could tell you ... We did it."
Diomande said he was told his sister had died a few weeks after making his debut for Spanish club Leganes in a match against Real Madrid in March 2025. He said he was told that "someone put something in her drink at a party."
Diomande left Leganes for German side RB Leipzig where he was an instant hit last season but also "always late" in the beginning.
"Well, not late. But I was on time, which in Germany means you’re very late," he said. "So you already know what I did next. I started arriving 90 minutes early to everything. I was so early all the time that the guys started calling me 'The German.'"
Now he is at the world's biggest stage, where his team started with a victory against Ecuador and next face Germany on Saturday, and he is playing for himself and her.
"Everything you said came true," he said.
"Your brother is going to play for Côte d'Ivoire, like [Didier] Drogba, like Yaya [Touré], like Gervinho.
"I don’t even look at it like a game. I look at it like a stage. This is my chance to show the whole world what you saw in me. Every time I score, I’ll make sure everybody knows your name. I’ll make sure they don’t forget you.
"You always said that I could be better than Cristiano. If I see him there, I’ll tell him hello for you. I’m going to do what you predicted, I swear. Before I even had real boots, you were telling everybody, 'My brother is going to be the greatest in the world.'
"I will prove that you were right, or I will die trying."
