Sol Bamba: Middlesbrough player’s journey to defeating Man Utd in FA Cup is inspirational

Sol Bamba has had a remarkable journey in the last few years.

The defender came on in the 118th minute of Middlesbrough’s FA Cup fourth-round win over Manchester United to score a penalty and dump the Red Devils out of the competition.

The northeastern side went a goal down in the first half thanks to a left-footed strike from Jadon Sancho.

But Chris Wilder’s team came back on 64 minutes with Matt Crooks hammering in a controversial goal that could have been disallowed for a handball from Duncan Watmore in the build-up.

With the scores level, the game ran its course to extra time and the match was eventually decided by penalties.

In the final two minutes of play, Wilder made the decision to replace 22-year-old forward Isaiah Jones with Bamba, who came on to become one of eight players to score from the spot for Boro, helping his side win the shootout 8-7.

The former Leeds United player soaked up the atmosphere at Old Trafford, in front of 9,700 ecstatic Middlesbrough fans, but less than a year ago, it was questionable whether the 37-year-old would ever be able to play football ever again.

In January 2021, Bamba, who was contracted to Cardiff City at the time, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and started a course of chemotherapy.

But the defender, who was a fan favourite at the Welsh club, used his determination to get back onto a football pitch to successfully battle the illness.

Relax guess I (still) got this