Diouf can’t resist sly dig at Liverpool legend Gerrard ahead of England vs Senegal clash
El Hadji Diouf could not resist a dig at former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard ahead of Senegal’s World Cup match against England on Sunday.
Diouf and Gerrard have a rivalry dating back many years with the latter seeking legal advice in 2015 after the former claimed he “disliked black people”.
The former Senegal international also accused Gerrard of “killing” Liverpool and being “jealous” of his talent, while he claimed in November 2016 that the Merseyside legend was “nothing at all”.
Former Liverpool forward Florent Sinama-Pongolle also detailed a dressing room “fight” between the pair with Diouf telling Gerard Houllier to tell Gerrard that he would “f**k his mum”.
Sinama-Pongolle said: “Half-time of a preseason game. Fight between Diouf and Gerrard. I was traumatised. Can you imagine the young ones seeing this and thinking that’s what professionals are like at that level? At half-time, in the dressing room. Stevie G is all like ‘you have to pass, you have to pass’ and [Diouf] just loses it.
“He didn’t speak English. His English was rubbish. You know what he did? They hated each other so much. Steven Gerrard arrives, he insults Diouf. ‘Hey, you f******…’.
“And [Diouf] couldn’t answer, so he grabs Gerard Houllier and says: ‘Tell him, I’ll f*** his mum’. He came in and said: ‘I’m not his mate, I’ll do him in straight away’.”
England face Senegal in the second round of the World Cup on Sunday with the winner facing France or Poland in the quarter-finals.
And speaking to The Sun ahead of the match, Diouf claimed Gerrard and Frank Lampard didn’t “like each other” and that they were to blame for poor harmony in previous England dressing rooms.
“My time in English football was different because (now) they all copy, the national team as well, Pep Guardiola and Man City.
“They play the same way, they want to have the ball and score a lot of goals and play tiki-taka football.
“Players can do it as well, they have a good team and a very good team spirit as well.
“It’s not like Stevie G and (Frank) Lampard time – the two of them, they don’t like each other.
“It’s about team spirit and Gareth Southgate did a great job.”
On the match itself, Diouf had a warning for England, he added: “It reminds me of when we played against France. They thought they’d won the game before they played it. If England do the same thing on Sunday, this is good for us.
“I know we are not the favourite but we are going to do everything to beat them and the players can do it.”
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