Yassine Bounou’s name may have saved a Moroccan national from execution during Sudan’s armed conflict in April 2023. According to Moroccan outlet Le360, the man worked at the French Embassy in Khartoum and faced a terrifying encounter while driving through the Sudanese capital on April 18.
Five armed men carrying Kalashnikovs reportedly intercepted him, threatened him and considered taking him to an unknown location to execute him. However, a simple question about his identity changed the course of events.
According to an account shared on Facebook by the head of the Paris bureau of the Emirates News Agency, the gunmen asked the Moroccan man for his name.
“Bounou,” he replied. The name apparently reminded the armed men of Morocco’s national team goalkeeper and the team’s achievements at the World Cup. “For the sake of the Moroccan national team’s goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, and the Moroccan team’s achievements in the World Cup, we’ll let you go,” they reportedly told him before releasing him. The extraordinary account highlights the goalkeeper’s popularity far beyond the football pitch.
