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Tah on Diomande's letter to his deceased sister: “Very moving”

Tah on Diomande's letter to his deceased sister: “Very moving”
An empathetic soccer player with principles and strong opinions: Jonathan Tah. / Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa
From: DieSachsen News
Jonathan Tah feels a special connection to the Ivory Coast because of his father. That is one of the reasons why he is moved by the fate of an opponent at the World Cup.

German national soccer team player Jonathan Tah was deeply moved by the letter published by Leipzig’s young star Yan Diomande to his sister, who died at the age of 15. “That was very moving,” said 30-year-old Tah after reading the words of the 19-year-old winger from the Ivory Coast in the magazine “The Players’ Tribune.” 

Diomande wrote about the painful loss in a letter because he couldn’t bring himself to speak about the tragedy. “People often say we’re just soccer players,” said Tah at the press conference ahead of tonight’s match (10:00 p.m./ZDF and MagentaTV) in Toronto between the DFB team and the African squad, in which Diomande is one of the key players. 

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Tah welcomes the opportunity to show the human side as a soccer player

He generally thinks it’s good “to hear the background stories of the people” whom everyone in the stadiums knows only as soccer players. “Anyone who experiences and shares mental setbacks as an athlete or soccer player within a team definitely knows that they have that backing and support from everyone around them within the team,” said the Bayern Munich pro. 

“I think it also helps to deal with situations like that,” said Tah, who has Ivorian roots through his father, which makes this second World Cup match very special for him. “That’s why I think it’s great that he shares this and shows his human side—so people don’t just always see the soccer player,” he said about Diomande.

“Dear Roxane, do you remember...”

Diomande’s letter begins with: “Dear Roxane, do you remember...” It reads: “I’m going to prove that you were right. Even before I even had real soccer cleats, you told everyone, ‘My brother is going to be the best in the world.’” That’s what drives the young pro every day: “I’ll achieve what you predicted—I swear it.”

He writes this “because I want you to know: I’ll make sure your memory lives on.” According to the letter, Diomande’s sister died just a few weeks before his debut in March 2025 in Spain for Leganés. Someone had slipped something into her drink at a party, and she never woke up again. Before her death, he still had feelings. “Today I don’t feel anything anymore. It’s as if I’m not even human anymore. Since your death, I’ve just been empty.” He also recounted happy moments with his sister.

The soccer field is the only place “where I still feel at home,” Diomande writes. “There I’m at peace, and there I can talk to you. I just wish you were still here.”

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