Who is Boulaye Dia, the Villarreal striker who scored against Liverpool in the Champions League semifinals?

Boulaye Dia was born in Oyonnax, France in 1996. He is a French-Senegalese footballer who plays as a striker and has played for three teams during his career. He currently plays for Villarreal C. F. of the First Division of Spain. Also, he decided to represent the Senegal national soccer team.

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Soccer career of Boulaye Dia

Boulaye began his career with Jura Sud Foot, where he scored 15 goals in 21 games, which led to him being noticed by other clubs. Jura Sud Foot, also known as Jura Sud Lavans, is a soccer team from France that plays in the Championnat National 2, the fourth most important soccer league in the country. 

After his great season with the French team, Boulaye Dia was signed by Ligue 1 side Stade de Reims, making a big leap in his professional career.

With Stade de Reims, the Senegalese started playing with the team's subsidiary that played in the same division as Jura Sud, where he participated in six matches and scored 2 goals. Due to his good performance, he was promoted to the first team in the 2018/19 season where he played 21 games and scored four goals.

For the 2019/20 season, the player consolidated, participating in 31 games and scoring 8 goals, and providing one assist. After already being indisputable with the team, in the 2020/21 season, the player showed his best version, scoring a total of 17 goals throughout the season, which led him to be signed by Villarreal of the Spanish league.

Champion with Senegal in the African Cup

The player participated in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations and was a champion alongside Sadio Mané and Benjamin Mendy. In the tournament, he was not able to score but was an important player in the coach's scheme.

His debut with the Senegal national team was on November 11, 2020, in a qualifier for the Africa Cup of Nations. Since his debut, the Villarreal player has been in 16 matches with Senegal.

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