Serge Aurier who plies his trade with French champions Paris St. Germain has received praise for his effort in saving the life of Mali international Moussa Doumbia.
Doumbia was knocked unconscious when he clashed with Sunderland player Lamine Kone but the Ivory Coast international quickly saved the player from swallowing his tongue.
The coach of the Malian side Alain Giresse reached out to Aurier after the game to thank him for his effort.
“All the players realised that Doumbia was choking and was about to swallow his tongue. 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,” the coach told French radio outlet, RMC.
Aurier seems to be a controversial player, but at least did something really selfless for an opposing side, and it earned him a lot of commendations. In fact, later in the game, same Aurier stirred controversy when he made a throat-slit gesture towards the crowd when Ivory Coast scored a second goal against the Malians.
Aurier made the headlines last month when he was sentenced to two months jail term for giivng a police officer an elbow. The player was also fined €600 in damage costs over the incident which occured at a Paris Nightclub few months back. The Ivorien was suspended from the PSG team but the coach Laurent Blanc.
The club case dragged on until he was convicted late last Septemeber. He remains free to play pending the result of an appeal against the ruling which would impact his career to an extent. Aurier denied the charges, claiming that he was a victim of police violence. He had earlier called his teammates Argentinan Angel Di Maria a “clown” when he answered questions online.