How a Fake Footballer Lied His Way Into The Premier League

Ali Dia is the greatest trickster in football history. Ali Dia managed to convince everybody that he was the cousin of George Weah and was able to use this story to his advantage to play multiple different professional leagues including going from the fifth tier of French football to the English Premier league in just three years playing with Southhampton. Dia managed to use his George Weah story to convince Graeme Souness to let him play for Southampton and eventually got to play against Leeds United. In the match he would do as well as you would expect from a non league footballer playing in the Premier League: Horrible. His performance earned him the great quote from Matt Le Tessier: "He looked like bambi on ice".
Twitter: RealJayse7

[@JohnRonson88]

No matter how many times I hear this story, it still gets me in hysterics every time seeing Dia get subbed on in a premier league match.

[@pacyguy7144]

Same bro I can't stop laughing when I see his highlights video, and the chant as well, aliii diiiiyyaaaa he's a liar he's a liarrrrrr lmao

[@toffeelatte6042]

It's even funnier that he nearly scored.

[@robinhood3926]

Bear in mind they had a lot of injuries

[@kims4495]

I honestly can't understand how he duped everyone. We had phones in the 90s, fax machines as well. Call the Senegalese FA or PSG, and they will tell the truth.

[@walterlebzax9585]

He's not a conman, he's simply genius.

[@big-mike2955]

Legendary😅😅🥃 & Maybe he's related to Harry Maguire.

[@Obresedk96]

😂😂😂 they are distant cousins 👊🏾👊🏾👊🏾

[@mafcgh]

I've seen a few videos on the Ali Dia story but this is definitely the most detailed one I've seen. I never knew he did the same thing to so many clubs before Southampton! Great video

[@DizzyMakavelli]

Need to make a video about Carlos Kaiser a dude who “played” for a lot of clubs in Brazil without even know how to play. Man... That was wild, dude was even the favorite player of a Mafia Boss that owned his club.

[@pacyguy7144]

Legendary story never fails to crack me up, ali dya forever a Southampton legend 🙌🏽❤

[@mondayonuigbo5700]

🤣🤣

[@pacyguy7144]

@@mondayonuigbo5700 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@santotukube8351]

😂😂😂

[@BruceLeroyUK]

Everytime I hear this story, I'm in hysterics 😂😂😂. I'm surprised that they haven't made this story into a movie. 😅😅

[@noneofyourbizness]

Ali should take up politics in UK. lying and thieving his way through life , he'd make a perfect tory

[@stuartpenman6387]

aww bless you think the UK has parties

[@unknownguy-le1hr]

He would make a great left winger. Left wingers lie all the time

[@Yesandwhoareyou]

*politician

[@alanwann9318]

He would make a good Tory M.P

[@stuartpenman6387]

@@alanwann9318 awww bless , you work for the BBC by any chance?LOL

[@rewind2play]

He could play for Everton now😮

[@pato2200]

I thought he did

[@greenhenryYT]

I'd have him!

[@lifetransformer]

❤

[@turns2ashes]

I remember watching this game, as a Southampton fan I am used to low points but this takes the biscuit

[@Steveinthailand]

Lol...after watching this hilarious video, i read up on Ali and found out I know his son! He plays for Ayutthaya Utd in the second tier of Thai League. As a former Thai League footie reporter, I know him well. Wow! What a coincidence! Ayutthaya are not a bad team, and Thai League 2 is a professional League offering very decent salaries for imported players. His son must be a 100 times better than his dad ever was!

[@hassinho]

Great documentary of a great player 🔥

[@salsadancer4965]

Incredible. Impressive. If he scored that would be the icing.

[@eminix2132]

The guy was smart😂😂😂

[@imzak3563]

He would have earned himself a long term lucrative career if only he was truly good at playing....

[@sadflamer23]

kaiser enter the chat

[@jeremyazpilicueta-robinson5043]

He was [probably] using Jinns.

[@gabrielmacharia5421]

This detailed story got you my subscription 🙌

[@Jj_2723]

This was so funny bro😂 good job

[@mbenembene2841]

A movie would sell: Ali Dia

[@Ducac321]

I'm not sure about the validity of that MBA degree... :D

[@majobho2034]

Bambi on ice.

[@starofdavid9919]

Certainly not the only footballer to fake it, seen so many over the years, some have even became millionaires.

[@mathewvanostin7118]

Before 2000. A lot of people used to lie they played in some big club in a foreign country where its very unlikely they gonna check Like lying you played for dynamo kiev. Or olympiakos. Or galatasaray or sporting lisboa or some club in brazil etc If you had pictures of you with the jersey. Playing. And you looked believable. You could fool the club Its only thanks to worldwide use of internet (we can check stuff) and international calls becoming easy and cheap. That those lies have now trouble to succed since 2000

[@rasyahdi]

Harry McGuire is the best example of a person who faked it and continues to this day.

[@emmanuel-rq4sn]

When African Prince decided to play football 😂😂😂

[@Random-tb1xr]

Fr lol

[@Mcnamara2]

😂😂😂😂

[@dericktush7210]

🤣

[@supergamer254]

How did the narrator do it without laughing ?🤣🤣🤣

[@NihilIslands]

Today you still have trouble distinguishing if someone is relative to known football player because ppl dont speak much and pressure is higher if ppl find you are relative of someone

[@noloyisongalonkulu8401]

Mann i luv this story it's hilarious i imagine it watching him these trials

[@liboyengwa88]

The legend himself Ali Dia

[@suzanibafazi8661]

Here in South Africa 🇿🇦 many young footballers do that.They lie their way into playing for Professional teams juniors.I knew most who played for Kaizer Chiefs juniors.Most of them got caught and expelled.Once you get caught you will never play professional soccer ⚽ again.They used to make fun of security guards 👮🏿‍♂️,cleaners and women who worked in the laundry 🧦🧺🧤.Most went good academically 📚.Who knows what jobs they are doing now? I am just I never underestimated Security Guards 👮🏿‍♂️ because I ended up being one myself.

[@indianastones6032]

Regardless ya gotta give him some credit for the commitment/balls to ride the blag to the end!!! As bad as he was, what about those who fell for it?? It's not like it was just one person that got fooled its gotta be loads, and actually fooling so many people for years, it sounds like a tale some old fella in a pub would come up with!!

[@jackroro7381]

I would like to hear Dia side of the story.. what he is saying doesn't add up for me

[@nightwing5405]

​@@jackroro7381yeah he could not be as bad as he is described.

[@jackroro7381]

@@nightwing5405 exactly

[@kims4495]

Tbf he does have more PL minutes than me

[@alandavies3727]

Ideal player for the spuds!

[@tourgecko]

That someone claimed to be George Weah's cousin and none of those clubs bothered to contact George Weah for confirmation and went ahead to sign a player on that premise, means the clubs are even worse than this player. Total junk junk yard clubs.

[@petesmart1983]

George weahs real cousin was playing for arsenal at the time too Christopher wreh which made it even more bizarre

[@markouljancic975]

I think most of ppl in the World dont know all of their cousins...

[@MarianLivingLife]

Thank you 👏🏽👏🏽

[@jaybuck9124]

How can a victim be worse than the deceiver, Im sorry but you're tripping

[@munyaradzimushato9102]

you can safely add Harry Maguire to that list!!

[@frimmbits]

😅😅😅

[@ziedhamdi3417]

Dude you killed me 😂😂😂😂😂

[@daddyslaggy8606]

Finally I have been searching for gigs story after an Uber driver told me this story but did not remember the player’s name or teams hrr we played for but the George Weah reference is on point 😂Souness proving how bad he is when it comes to analysis of players maybe that’s why he hated Pogba so much 😂😂😂

[@viwembande9497]

A thing of Legends

[@andreiiuliandjandi]

He was on fire 😂😂😂😂

[@srikanthan1000]

Y would being related to George Weah be reason enough to play ? It can merit a trial just to c if some of Weahs talent rubbed off on him or not and even this at the lower clubs. This story is almost too good to be true.

[@vincenzofranchelli2201]

thats what i was thinking. most fooballers, well actually all of them, have at least some relatives who are trash at football

[@ambientsounds1416]

So he turns up to southamoton vs leeds abd souness just says get on the pitch 🎉😂😂

[@AnyOldSite]

I thought LeTiss injured a thigh muscle, not a "calf string"

[@MrBalls70]

Hey... Is this your first channel?

[@tshephophineas7864]

The legend himself

[@brentpatterson5715]

Gillingham = "Jill Ingham" Blythe = "Bli-th" Le Tissier = "Le Tiss E A"

[@italscientist4858]

This Baller could write a book 😮.

[@Garettteh]

Singapore will surely give him a citizenship to represent the National team as foreign talent.

[@moalendenagrofarm5203]

Legends say that tia is still is legends

[@rkgooner89]

a bit like that POP group Milli Vanilli and how they faked it in a smiliar fashion but with music !

[@Emotional_Food1869]

interesting story, what makes me laugh more is the dudes voice. he is flabbergasted🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@user-uc9jt5ul6e]

He reminds me of Kaiser the Brazilian liar

[@adrianperalta2425]

He also said, this is a fake post.

[@giovannikwekufourriclasse168]

Bro please help me. How are these videos made please lemme know

[@ronaldwood9247]

"GILL ingham." 🤣 They're pronounced 'Jill'. LOL

[@magpie1281]

Nice Thumbnail

[@kennethdrewary1094]

And to think, the manager who played him, has been an 'expert' for years now, lol.

[@Klynch111]

This guy wouldn't have a chance of pulling this off in todsy age of social media 😂

[@petesmart1983]

Probably could it happens in lower leagues with people showing off mix tapes etc

[@maliqueforrest]

This is hilarious 😂😂

[@segercliffhanger]

I hate to say it. This story has potential, it's a good find. I heard of it, but it's still an intriguing story. The way it's made and edited however looks and feels like pulp at its very finest and I'm not sure if that's intentional. As an example, don't fill empty space with empty memes. Everyone else is already doing that. Instead, shorten the narrative. Half of this vid length would've done the job just fine. I'll gladly take a slow Ken Burns zoom on a decent photo over some totally random beard wearing chip munching dude. BTW, in our age of AI, less than decent still material, and also footage, can be restored in often jaw-dropping ways. Please don't feel offended. Just my 2 personal cents. Keep 'em coming.

[@al81yoo]

Jesus, its a fun video, lighten up

[@williamsmith61999]

I hope all is well at home?! This video was very fun to watch.

[@segercliffhanger]

What do you mean lighten up? What's wrong with offering someone your 2 cents. If you do it politely and earnestly.

[@MrAmojo]

Chant: AAAAALI Dia, he's a liar, he's liar!

[@munyaradzimushato9102]

....the guy has proven his super intelligence too, along with everything else!

[@kogiman]

It was a different era

[@chukwuemeka1441]

We need to investigate his business degree. I can smell something.

[@festonyakaya4646]

Dia was a GOAT

[@tacmon29]

😂😂😂

[@festonyakaya4646]

@@tacmon29 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@bom89ar60]

Plenty of players like him out there

[@thabelongwenya4666]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Kill me again!

[@GCMAC1980]

What about the guy I think it was Wycombe signed him from a Teletext advert and he scored against Leicester in the cup

[@SmokingLaddy]

Roy Essandoh - Player File from Chairboys on the Net. Joined Wycombe: March 2001 on a week to week trial. Summary: Essandoh apparently came to Wycombe after his agent saw Wycombe's desperate search for a striker on teletext ahead of the FA Cup Quarter-Final tie with Leicester City on Saturday 10th March.

[@GCMAC1980]

@@SmokingLaddy the very one thank you what a guy eh can't fault a trier but a lier a different matter

[@SmokingLaddy]

@@GCMAC1980 Exactly mate, couldn't agree more.

[@JfK--OBJECTivE]

Why show Cameroon when talking about Senegal?

[@yotsanta]

This is an interesting story. Hey! I can't stop laughing😂😂😂

[@justbenice72]

Where is Ali Dia?

[@4evaclapham]

Chelsea would easily pay £43 million for him as things stand

[@emmanuelnshimiyimana1346]

no matter how bad he was, I'm convinced he was much better than me lol

[@chaileeportraits]

There's Lyng and stealing and there's Lyng and fighting to get it, so one letter change is a smarter everyday not Lyng...that guy is a genius fake it till you make it yeah

[@Salacious-Crumb]

Aparantly Birmingham City are still very interested , sources say he's got what it takes to be there greatest signing ever

[@indianastones6032]

Hes way too old to be playing now

[@barakawabuge5285]

😂😂

[@Salacious-Crumb]

@@indianastones6032 never too old to play for blues mate

[@olliered9924]

@@Salacious-Crumb Jermain Defoe is still playing and he is about 86 so I'm sure Ali dia can still play

[@Salacious-Crumb]

@@olliered9924 shh don't let Blues hear you...they will want to sign Defoe ....jokes aside watta player he was ...seen him live once at villa Park...quality player

[@star4pf858]

how tf waa he able to travel from france to finland to uk to california on initially starting with 300 euros per month????????/

[@RodMzi]

Flights were probably paid for by the club

[@georgerubypoppy1063]

Some superb pronunciations of club/place names there buddy.

[@toureyacoubou9589]

Probably he’s now, one of the opposition leader in Africa

[@kogiman]

He maybe used some juju

[@sas2300]

George Weahs cousin 😂. How did clubs not notice his shortcomings in training? Also how did he keep getting paid by clubs he had left, I mean WTF is going on here 😂

[@petesmart1983]

Probably didn't train

[@APOLO-oq3ce]

If he played and came on the pitch what has lying got do do with it? You constantly practicing with the team.

[@MrMontythemouse]

Hes lucky his name wasn't spelt 'Dyer' , Souness would have thought it far too 'feniany' a name and not given him his chance.

[@youseff439]

May be he is not good footballer but he is definitely good sales

[@TRAVEL-FOOD-MOTIVATION.]

😂😂😂😂😂 seriously😂😂😂

[@pauljames1258]

surprised Leeds didnt sign him

[@SW-kr9fl]

How and why did no one check his story??

[@tsampson6660]

🐐

[@summittaedae2323]

Rumour has it he has a trial with rangers and if successful will earn a whopping £10.92 per hour. That’s a good wage when you consider rangers financial situation.

[@arejaycee5704]

Changed his name tae Lammers a heard

[@RandomnessTube.]

Spot the Celtic fan he'd probably be fingered at Celtic given their elaborate history with players.

[@summittaedae2323]

@@RandomnessTube. no it was touchy feeley neeley the ibrox beast big jock Wallace knew 🤫

[@RandomnessTube.]

@@summittaedae2323 Let's talk numbers Celtic are the number one at it. 🤫

[@summittaedae2323]

@@RandomnessTube. well Atleast sevco have the least beast trophy 🏆

[@ridhowiranatakusumah6531]

fun fact ali dia son plau pro soccer in thai league 2 hes carreeer are very pro

[@silvertain1978]

I thought they were talking about Kai Havertz

[@abies79]

He had dreams not a bad idea after all football love will make you do different things

[@johndough1703]

Did he ACTUALLY get an MBA, though?

[@Isleofskye]

Who knows. I know a friend of mine bought a Degree in London off of a dodgy Nigerian Lecturer, who charged her and others £300 and it worked, as, apparently, it looks authentic.

[@BaniAadama]

Be a more careful when narrating and illustrating your story, the image at 10:05 referring to the Senegal National team is actually the Cameroon Team!

[@newlinx8074]

He can play for Guyana

[@jvtruth2019]

I know another one of them at Manchester. Harry Dia. Harry dia get on that team. ???

[@vanng5689]

Buddha bless. He never gave up onngis dream and the self motivation -) 😂

[@CrazyAztekX3]

Hey! I know that guy! That’s the NIGERIAN PRINCE HIMSELF!!! Hello! I’m the guy who send you the money from your email! 🙋🏻‍♂️

[@kogiman]

No crime

[@jordan24richardson]

Gill ingham 🤷🏼‍♂️💀🤣🤣🤣 it’s pronounced Jill Ing ham 🤣🤣 gillingham 🤣🤣🤣

[@lrdnalrd7956]

did he fake his skill?

[@travelingcatman2089]

Best scam ever

[@paulmilner8452]

the fact he nearly scored vs leeds sums my banter club up, sometimes i feel Patrick bamford is faking it too

[@wiremylights]

there are worst stories than this with european players

[@Isleofskye]

So you CAN fool all the people all the time...for a while,at least:)

[@oliverwoodcock5307]

Matt Le Tissier was not a striker.