Cote D’Ivoire defender Serge Aurier has received praise after being credited with saving the life of opponent Moussa Doumbia in a recent international fixture.
The Paris Saint-Germain player was representing his national team in a World Cup qualifier against Mali last weekend when Rostov player Doumbia was knocked unconscious in a challenge with Ivorian Lamine Kone.
Doumbia was not able to breathe normally and would have choked on his own tongue had Aurier not reacted swiftly and bravely to help his opponent.
The African champions beat the Malian Eagles 3-1 in the high profile West African battle in Abidjan.
Mali opened the scoring on 18 minutes through Sambou Yatabare before Aston Villa forward Jonathan Kodjia made sure that the Ivorians were back in the game with an equaliser. An own goal by Salif Coulibaly gave Cote D’Ivoire the lead, before Gervinho made sure of victory with his goal to secure a 3-1 win.
The win was an important one for the 2015 AFCON winners, but much of the talk following the game was focused on the incident involving Doumbia, and Aurier’s good work to assist his fellow footballer.
Mali coach Alain Giresse has been one of the individuals who have expressed high praise for the reaction of the PSG defender.
The former France international said that he personally thanked Aurier for his “superb reactions” after the encounter, in which he believes that the defender saved the life of his player.
“All the players realised that Doumbia was choking and was about to swallow his tongue,” Giresse said to French radio station RMC.
“That’s when Aurier, with one of our players, quickly put him on his side and pulled out his tongue, because he was about to lose his life,” he added.
Aurier was recently sentenced to two months imprisonment for assaulting a policeman in France, but was able to play for Cote D’Ivoire against Mali, as the sentence is pending an appeal.
