Egil
Ostenstad
“IT LOOKED AS IF ALI DIA HAD NEVER PLAYED FOOTBALL – WE COULDN’T BELIEVE HE WAS ON THE PITCH”
else in the Premier League could do, but he didn’t look after his body the way he should have to maximise his potential. I think that caught up with him too early as the game was developing quite fast in those years. Fitness became more and more important.
Interview Sean Cole
Ostenstad enjoyed the best part of his career at Southampton
You also played with Ali Dia – who was signed by Southampton after claiming to be George Weah’s cousin – in his one and only appearance, at home to Leeds. What do you recall about that?
The most amazing thing is that the story is 100 per cent true and as crazy as it sounds. We had players on trial all of the time, so there was nothing special about that, but they were always decent, even if they didn’t end up getting signed. But this guy came in and it was clear for everybody to see that he was rubbish – so far off the level. It looked like he had never played football at all. It was very strange. We had many injuries. Le Tiss started the match but had to come off, and suddenly Ali Dia was on the pitch. We couldn’t believe it. He was shocking.