{"id":105148,"date":"2026-06-17T19:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/?p=105148"},"modified":"2026-06-17T19:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T23:12:09","slug":"yoane-wissa-congos-hero-against-portugal-who-once-survived-an-acid-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/?p=105148","title":{"rendered":"Yoane Wissa: Congo\u2019s hero against Portugal, who once survived an acid attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazyloading\" src=\"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/eac44_default-ie.jpg\" data-lazy-type=\"lazyloading-image\" data-src=\"https:\/\/data.indianexpress.com\/election2019\/track_1x1.jpg\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/data.indianexpress.com\/election2019\/track_1x1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1px\" height=\"1px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Post the incident, Wissa had told the court in Vannes, Brittany about the incident and how he almost lost his eye sight. \u201cI opened a door, and had liquid thrown in my face. I screamed and could not breathe.My wife called the emergency services, and they told me to get under the shower to rinse my eyes. At the hospital they told me my eyes were burned. Someone had to come and rinse them out every hour. It has been a nightmare. Since then I panic every time I hear a noise, and the only thing that kept me going was knowing my children are safe. I had surgery on both eyes, and the doctor told me I will need to use eye drops for the rest of my life.\u201dThe Sun had reported Wissa giving the statement in the court in Vannes, Brittany.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"custom-caption\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" class=\"lazyloading wp-image-10745125 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/eac44_default-ie.jpg\" data-lazy-type=\"lazyloading-image\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.indianexpress.com\/2026\/06\/Wissa-Goal-vs-Portugal.jpg\" alt=\"Congo's Yoane Wissa (20) scores his side's first goal against Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa during the World Cup Group K soccer match between Portugal and Congo in Houston, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Karen Warren)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wissa-Goal-vs-Portugal.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wissa-Goal-vs-Portugal.jpg?resize=450,253 450w, https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wissa-Goal-vs-Portugal.jpg?resize=600,338 600w, https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wissa-Goal-vs-Portugal.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wissa-Goal-vs-Portugal.jpg?resize=720,405 720w, https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wissa-Goal-vs-Portugal.jpg?resize=1536,864 1536w, https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Wissa-Goal-vs-Portugal.jpg?resize=150,83 150w\" \/> Congo\u2019s Yoane Wissa (20) scores his side\u2019s first goal against Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa during the World Cup Group K soccer match between Portugal and Congo in Houston, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Karen Warren)<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Wissa, who was born in France, had earlier played for clubs like Chateauroux, Angers, Laval, Ajaccio and Lorient in France before he joined Brentford in September,2021, a month after the acid attack incident. With the court proceedings taking place post the incident and Wissa also appearing at the trial, Laetitia P was later found guilty and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Wissa had further talked about how the incident delayed his move to Brentford.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt took me six months before I fully got my sight back. Had I not been treated so quickly, the consequences would have been far worse. The days afterwards were traumatic for me. I know I will never feel the same as I used to. I want justice. Why has this happened to me? My wife and I will suffer the after-effects for the rest of our lives. This hugely delayed my move to Brentford. I missed their pre-season, and when I arrived the manager (Thomas Frank) said he had already drawn up his first team. He sympathised with me, and gave me time to adapt \u2013 but I got injured quickly as I wasn\u2019t feeling great. After the attack I reacted like a father more than a footballer, and told myself at least my kids are unharmed even though I am blind. Since that time I have become withdrawn. I can no longer tolerate being around people I don\u2019t know. My kids often ask me what I have done to my face, but they are too young for me to tell them what happened. I have been offered an operation. But I have refused, as this is part of my personal history,\u201d Wissa had told the court as reported by The Sun.<\/p>\n<p>Post the incident, the then Lorient manager, Christophe Pelissier had visited the striker at the hospital. \u201cEven though he was physically and mentally affected, Yoane quickly showed his determination to succeed. What struck me about him was his strong will and how he never gave up,\u201d Pelissier had told BBC.<\/p>\n<p>Joanne Wissa played in a total of 149 matches for Brentford from 2021 to 2025 and scored 49 goals. The striker then made a move to Newcastle United in a move expected to be close to 55 million pounds. With a recurring knee injury, Wissa has since then started in only four Premier League matches for Newcastle having a total of 13 appearances for the club in the league with only one goal.<\/p>\n<p \/>\n<p>He had also missed playing for Congo in the African Nations Cup to play for his club. His only goal for the club had come in his first match against Fulham wearing the jersey number nine, a number worn by club legend Alan Shearer. Post the match, Wises had shared how he got a text message from Shearer. \u201cIt means a lot to me. I received a text message from him (Alan Shearer) before the match, he wished me the best of luck because he knew I was going to start. It is something special. I know the number nine shirt is the best one here, so I just need to enjoy that. There is pressure that comes with it, but it is a privilege.\u201d Wiessa had told BBC Radio post the match.<\/p>\n<section class=\"stories_fu_widget myie-express-article-widget\" id=\"myie_express_article_10745119\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Post the incident, Wissa had told the court in Vannes, Brittany about the incident and how he almost lost his eye sight. \u201cI opened a door, and had liquid thrown in my face. I screamed and could not breathe.My wife called the emergency services, and they told me to get under the shower to rinse [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105148"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}