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Ivory Coast's Serge Aurier Helped Save Opponent's Life In World Cup Qualifier

Ivory Coast's Serge Aurier Helped Save Opponent's Life In World Cup Qualifier

Mali's Moussa Doumbia had suffered an epileptic fit.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

PSG defender Serge Aurier came to the aid of an opponent in a World Cup qualifier when Mali's Moussa Doumbia had suffered an epileptic fit.

Doumbia, who plays for FC Rostov, fell to the ground just 20 minutes to the game and swallowed his tongue.

Fousseni Diawara, a national team coordinator for Mali, revealed that Aurier rushed towards the player as soon as he realised something was wrong.

Speaking to Goal France, he said:

"There is one thing nobody is talking about, which is the manner in which he helped a Malian on the pitch. Doumbia fell and was swallowing his own tongue and Serge was one of the first to arrive and help.On Sunday, Aurier was at our hotel to ask after our guy."

Serge Aurier
Serge Aurier

Ivory Coast would go onto win the game 3-1, with Aurier coming under scrutiny for an apparent throat-slitting gesture he did when Ivory Coast went 2-1 up.

Diawara played down the incident and praised the former Toulouse man.

He said:

"On Monday, we flew back to Paris together and we did not talk about it [the throat-slitting gesture]. Instead, he was praising our team. Ivory Coast-Mali is a hotly contested derby for both sets of supporters because the Malians and Ivorians are a bit like cousins."

Aurier has been marred by controversy this year, having been suspended by his club when footage emerged of him calling then PSG boss Laurent Blanc a "faggot". He is also appealing against an assault charge against a Police Officer outside a night club, though he will not serve any time in prison despite his two-month sentence.

But this story certainly paints Aurier in a different light.

(h/t Goal)

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Topics: PSG, ivory coast