When Liverpool supporters tuned in to the Senegal matches during the 2002 World Cup to see how their newly-bought recruit was getting on, they might have been forgiven for confusing his robust displays with that of a certain Patrick Vieira. Having wrapped up the £5 million signing prior to the tournament, Gerard Houllier must have thought he had pulled off a bargain when Diao helped his country reach the quarter-finals, scoring a particularly memorable goal against the Danes in the group stage. His international career wasnt just confined to one memorable tournament - he appeared in two African Cup of Nations - finishing runners-up to Cameroon in the 2002 one - and was involved in three qualification campaigns for World Cups. He amassed 39 caps for his country, and was hailed as one of the key players of the early 00s era. At Liverpool, however, he flopped dramatically. After a series of inept displays, he was farmed out on three separate loan spells before departing after five anonymous years on the Merseyside clubs books. Whatever player the Liverpool supporters thought they were signing in the summer of 2002, they were soon to be bitterly disappointed.