وجّه Yan Diomande sent a moving message to his late sister Roxane after scoring his first goal in a Real Madrid shirt, celebrating with a long look up towards the sky, recalling her memory and insisting she will remain in his heart forever.
According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, Roxane was 15 years old when she died. Her brother was still a long way from becoming the footballer he is today, but she believed he would reach the very top.
Others mocked his dreams. She kept believing he would achieve them, and that is why, when the forward scored his first goal for Real Madrid, he ended his celebration with a long look up towards the sky.
Valverde threaded a superb through ball to the Ivorian in the 62nd minute, and he beat the opposition goalkeeper with a beautiful cross-shot to give Real Madrid a 1-0 lead.
Once the video assistant referee room confirmed the goal, Diomande moved away from his team-mates, closed his eyes and burst into tears, overcome by the memory of his sister. He explained the celebration after the match: "This means more than words can express. My first goal is for you, my sister. You will stay in my heart forever."
"Since you left, I feel empty"
The forward grew up in Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast, where from childhood he chased his dream of becoming a professional player. His journey featured difficulties, rejections and moments when reaching his goal seemed impossible, but Roxane never doubted him. She dreamed of seeing him succeed, and shared with her brother the ambition of changing their family's life.
Roxane's death in 2025, when she was just 15 years old, hit Diomande hard at an early stage of his footballing career. Before the 2026 World Cup, the player decided to reveal the details of this story in a letter published on The Players' Tribune platform, in which he recalled memories of the person who believed in his talent before anyone else, and admitted to the emptiness left by her absence.
Yan Diomande began the most personal letter of his life with the words: "Dear Roxane". Football came later. First he went back to his childhood, remembering a fake Manchester United shirt with the name "Ronaldo" and the number 7 written on the back in black pen. Those were days full of hardship, but they also carried a great deal of happiness. Looking back on that period, he said: "We didn't know whether we were rich or poor. We were just happy."
Not yet ten years old, Roxane had already taken on the role of her brother's agent. She was the first and most convinced defender of his talent, certain he would one day become a star. She also shared their joint dreams with him, among them living in France, owning their own house and making sure their family escaped from hardship.
But the tone of the letter changed when Diomande reached the moment that split his life into two parts. After playing his first professional matches with Leganes, aged just 18, he received a phone call from Ivory Coast informing him of his sister's death.
According to his account, someone put a substance in Roxane's drink during a party, and she never woke up afterwards. Definitive answers about what happened have never come, and he admitted in his letter that he still asks himself whether he could have protected her. He said: "Since you died, I feel empty." His aim has not been limited to achieving success since then, which explains the enormous significance of his first goal for Real Madrid. He added, making a pledge in his letter: "Everything I do on the pitch is for you."
A dream called the Champions League
Speaking on Real Madrid's channel, Diomande admitted: "I had been waiting for this first goal for a long time." He also explained how he dealt with the chance from which he scored, saying: "I think the only option in that position was to control the ball, turn and then shoot quickly. That's what I did, and it worked."
Another challenge at the highest level now awaits, and the Real Madrid man did not hide his excitement at the prospect of the Champions League. He said: "It's every child's dream, and I'm extremely grateful to be achieving it with Real Madrid." His performance against Villarreal also strengthened his chances of earning a bigger role within the team.
Diomande produced a display marked by dribbling ability, pace and the capacity to break through the opposition lines, completing four dribbles, while also helping to create space for Kylian Mbappe. He was a constant threat to the opposition defence.
With Vinicius' situation regarding appearances in La Liga matches being closely watched, the young African player has an opportunity to stake a claim for more minutes, in a season that is beginning to open up new horizons for him. Perhaps Vinicius summed up this progress best of all, after writing in a comment on his team-mate's post: "Yaaaan, he's arrived!"