Who did Kessie embrace after his decisive goal in Sunday's clásico?
The Barcelona midfielder celebrated in the stands after scoring in stoppage time
An explosion of joy. Delirium. Franck Kessie's goal that decided the clásico in Barcelona's favour was a torrent of emotions on the pitch at the Spotify Camp Nou. The Blaugrana bench came out to celebrate the Ivorian's goal, his first in La Liga and undoubtedly the most important since he landed in Catalonia. He turned the Barcelona coliseum upside down. More than 95,000 souls went wild with a goal that gave more than half a championship to Barça -- four seasons since their last league title.
Kessie, who had come on in the 76th minute, placed his body in the perfect position and scored well beyond the reach of Thibaut Courtois after a great assist from Alejandro Balde after Robert Lewandowski's back-heel. Kessie, in celebration, gave his own military salute in honour of his late father and headed towards the corner, where he was quickly surrounded by his team-mates.
A SPECIAL VISIT
After a couple of minutes of collective delirium, he spotted two familiar faces in the stands. Friends. Two key people in his growth and career. In the television footage, he was seen melting into an embrace with them. But who were they?
Well, the African's gratitude was directed towards his agent, George Atangana (a regular at Camp Nou and who has been 'accompanying' him for years), and towards a very special visitor. It was none other than former Ivory Coast coach Ibrahim Kamara.
FIGURA CLAVE EN SU EVOLUCIÓN
As we said, a very important figure for Kessie. Kamara coached him in the youth ranks of 'Les Éléphants' and was assistant to Hervé Renard when Franck made his senior debut in 2014 -- while he was still playing for Stella in the African country's First Division.
Kamara then took the reins as head coach of the senior national team in 2017 and held the position until February 2020. It was a great day for Kessie to share with his closest and most important people.
