Hartford Athletic Forward Mamadou Dieng Named USL Championship Player of the Week
Dieng's double in the win over New Mexico United propelled him to become the fourth player in club history to receive the honor
Mamadou Dieng was named USL Championship Player of the Week on Tuesday, following a brace against New Mexico United at Trinity Health Stadium last Wednesday. It’s the third time the forward has been in the Team of the Week, following two appearances in the scintillating second half of the 2024 season that saw him score 11 goals in 18 USL Championship appearances after the first week of July.
Last week, Dieng’s first goal directly result from Hartford’s unrelenting pressure, as Marlon Hairston won the ball in a very dangerous area and put the ball to the feet of the forward, who cut inside and then pulled the ball back through the legs of defender Ousman Jabang, leaving New Mexico goalkeeper Alex Tambakis stranded.
The second goal came entirely from Dieng’s own pressure and alertness, with Jabang once again the victim. The defender’s back-pass left Tambakis in no-man’s land, and Dieng was quick to the ball and easily rounded Tambakis to practically dribble the ball into an empty net.
Dieng’s hard work down the right-hand side led to the third goal, as he beat two defenders and drove into the area, sucking in the New Mexico defense in the process. The ball was poked away from him, but fell directly to Jonathan Jimenez who took advantage of the attention paid to Dieng to find a wide-open Michee Ngalina who curled the ball past Tambakis to give his side an unassailable lead.
In search of his first hat-trick, Dieng twice hit the post and also fired wide from close range, ultimately settling for his third brace for Hartford, becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer in the process. He now sits on 19 goals in all competitions (17 in the Championship, and one each in the U.S. Open Cup and the USL Jägermeister Cup), one ahead of former record holder Danny Barrera.
It’s the fourth time a Hartford Athletic player has received a Player of the Week award. Goalkeeper Renan Ribeiro and midfielder Danny Barrera did so in back-to-back weeks during the 2024 season, and midfielder Samuel Careaga was named the Player of the Round for Round 2 of the USL Jägermeister Cup earlier this season.
Dieng’s recent resurgence after a sluggish start to the season is likely to bring simmering interest in the player from higher levels to a boil. In the past offseason, manager Brendan Burke highlighted the forward as one who could be on the move.
“I've had more than a few phone calls about [him] already,” he said. “We had teams from Europe, Mexico and the last following us around for the last two months of the season. And it's my belief that he could end up playing at the highest levels of Europe.”
European clubs are still believed to be interested in Dieng, although MLS might be a more likely destination, with Burke emphasizing the need to find the right fit for the player.
“We need to be really conscious of taking the right opportunities to help guys move on in their career,” Burke said.
The right fit did not emerge in the 2024-25 offseason, but with the start of the European season drawing close — and for some clubs, already underway — a move could very much be in the offing for Hartford’s all-time leading scorer.
The Latics are back in action on Wednesday night, as they host The Miami FC at Trinity Health Stadium at 7:30 p.m.