The Hell-Raiser

Afr

ica's finest footballer, Elhadji Diouf, was raised by his grandmother in a house made of straw. While she struggled to drum up the money to feed her family, Diouf learned to look out for himself on the mean streets of Saint-Louis in Senegal. He got by with his wits and his fists. "By 14, I'd got into all the trouble there is," Diouf recently told France Football magazine. "Everyone knew me to be a thug, and they were all scared of me."

Diouf's thuggishness has continued to land him in trouble as an adult. In 2000, while driving a car without a license, he caused an accident that seriously injured a fellow motorist. Though Diouf escaped prosecution, the scandal cost him his job at the French football club Rennes, which traded him in disgrace to a rival team, RC Lens. Diouf has had his problems on the field, too. Last year, he was hit with a flurry of red cards. He also aroused the ire of Lens officials by going AWOL for 10 days this February after Senegal lost to Cameroon in the final of the African Nations Cup.

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But Diouf's wild and combustible nature may also be the secret to his footballing brilliance. He competes with a fire and fury that few can match, running relentlessly, stalking the penalty area, creating endless scoring chances. At his best, Diouf's untamed passion makes him all but unstoppable. In May, the lightning-quick striker led Lens to a second-place finish in France's first division. He was similarly invaluable in winning Senegal its first ever appearance in the final rounds of the World Cup. And his consistently dazzling skills won him the African Player of the Year award for 2001.

Looking back on the auto accident that almost wrecked his career, Diouf takes full responsibility for what he calls his "enormous screw-up." At 21, he finally seems determined to stay out of mischief both on the field and off. Ironically, getting exiled from Rennes to Lens has already proved to be a blessing in disguise. At Lens, Diouf is one of four players with starring roles in Senegal's national side. By playing together week in and week out, they have developed a rare cohesiveness that should greatly benefit their national team. Then again, they'll need all the help they can get. Senegal's first match will pit them against reigning champions France.