Behind the $1.50 Sandals Yan Diomande Mentions in "Dear Roxane" Letter

If you weren't familiar with Ivory Coast's Yan Diomande prior to the 2026 World Cup™, it's likely his performance against Ecuador in the first match of Group E has gotten him on your radar. Rumors of transfer bids from some of Europe's top clubs have kept the 19-year-old in discussion over the last week, but his "Dear Roxane" letter in The Players' Tribune have also given audiences much to discuss.

The RB Leipzig forward put together 1,323 words in honor of his younger sister, Roxane, who passed away at the age of 15 in August 2024. According to Côte d'Ivoire's number 11, he penned the letter for The Players' Tribune "because [he] can’t speak about it." He continues: "I wrote this because I want you [Roxane] to know that I will make sure that you live on. I will make sure that everybody knows your name. The whole world."

According to Diomande, his sister was the only person who ever truly believed in his talent showing up at the highest level. Before he got a shot to represent Ivory Coast at the World Cup™, Roxane believed her brother You "could be the next Cristiano [Ronaldo], when everybody else laughed" at the thought.

Diomande's "Dear Roxane" was published online on Wednesday, June 17—days after the 19-year-old forward was named Superior Player of the Match in his World Cup™ debut against Ecuador. The letter is an intimate moment made public in honor of a supportive figure for Diomande, but it's also a peek into a slice of life in Ivory Coast as it relates to football.

In "Dear Roxane," Diomande recalls how special his first pair of real, proper football boots were—so much so that he used to sleep with them. Prior to this, he mentions that he "always played in those white plastic sandals." Though he doesn't refer to them by name, a family photo—and history of football in Ivory Coast—confirms that the "white plastic sandals" he references are lêkê (pronounced "LEH-keh").

Several of his childhood teammates are seen wearing the plastic sandal, which sees its origins in 1946 when a French knife-maker invented the footwear model with surplus plastic. The lêkê's affordability (approx. $1.50) and local availability (domestic manufacturing) have helped them remain popular over the last 50 years.

Ivory Coast's zouglou music scene of the late 1980s helped cement the plastic sandals in popular culture, but the co-sign from amateur footballers have demonstrated how important the lêkê is to the West African nation.

Yes, you're reading that correctly: footballers play in lêkês.

The jelly shoes are a footwear staple amongst amateur footballers in Ivory Coast—in particular Abidjan. The plastic sandals are highly-practical for the common pitch conditions on which players like Simon Adingra, Amad Diallo, and Diomande played growing up: sandy and dusty. Thanks to lêkê's airiness, players can rest assured that the pitch won't get stuck in their footwear, and thus, cause discomfort.

Additionally, lêkê's low-coast and wide availability make replacing broken pairs easy.

One of the most popular styles is the lêkê in an all-white color scheme, but pairs done in the colors of Côte d'Ivoire's flag are also common—specifically during tournaments like the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup™.

Diomande is currently sponsored by New Balance Football, which laces him up in the Furon series of boots. Still, he writes in The Players' Tribune: "Even when I go back home now, I still play in [lêkê]. It’s our tradition."

The 19-year-old forward is sure to continue balling in the 2026 World Cup™ as Ivory Coast looks to make it to the knockout stages for the first time in its history.

Even if it doesn't get behind wearing "white plastic sandals," the world will be watching, knowing that it was Roxane who helped form the wonder kid.