Bizarre 2002 play-off moment saw unlikely Stoke City striker become a cult-hero | OneFootball

Souleymane Oulare's Potters stint is unforgettable because of one crucial goal

Stoke City have had many players earn cult-hero status over the years for their understated, but important, performances across a number of seasons with the club, but it took Guinean striker Souleymane Oulare just one game to write himself into the Potters' history books back in 2002.

Stoke boss Gudjon Thordason was under pressure to guide the club to promotion back to the second-tier ahead of the 2001/02 season, after play-off failures in the previous two campaigns, and his side got off to a great start to the new term despite the departures of main goalscorers Peter Thorne and Graham Kavanagh.

The Potters were well in the hunt for promotion midway through the season, and so Thordason looked to bring in some added firepower up front to help aid his side's quest, as Guinean international Oulare joined in December 2001 after being made a free-agent by Las Palmas just a month earlier.

Oulare looked to be a coup for Stoke, in the prime of his career at 29-years-old, and with previous experience in the Belgian First Division with Genk, the Turkish 1. Lig with Fenerbahçe, and La Liga with Las Palmas, but his time at Stoke was only just beginning when his health soon took a turn for the worse.

The unlucky frontman was ruled out for almost the whole of his debut season at the Britannia Stadium, with just one appearance to his name before he was picked on the bench for Stoke's play-off semi-final second-leg tie at Cardiff City - the rest, as they say, is history.

Souleymane Oulare wrote his name into Stoke City folklore against Cardiff

Oulare made the move to the Potteries just before the January window opened, and his arrival was met with real hype amid Stoke's aim for promotion from the third-tier of English football, where they had lingered since relegation in 1998.

The Guinean made his debut for the club as a second-half substitute at Northampton Town in mid-January, but his first taste of action for the Potters was soon overshadowed by health issues that left him fighting for his life.

Oulare became sick in the team hotel after his debut, and it was soon discovered that he had a blood clot on his lungs, with Stoke reporting that the news was 'bleak', and he would play no further part in the team that season.

While being a huge blow to his career, it also represented the start of a downturn in form for Stoke, as Thordason's side fell away from the automatic promotion places and had to settle with the play-offs for the third consecutive season in May.

The Potters were defeated 2-1 by Cardiff, who had controversially signed Thorne and Kavanagh just months earlier, in the first-leg at home, but were soon buoyed by the unexpected return of Oulare to the matchday squad for the second-leg at Ninian Park.

The two teams each missed chances to score on the night, and Thordason saw fit to make the Guinean his last throw of the dice, as he came on with 20 minutes left to play with the score locked at 0-0.

Oulare's impact was clear, as team-mate James O'Connor poked home a crucial equaliser in injury-time to send the game to extra-time, despite Cardiff's announcer telling the home fans to stay off the pitch just minutes earlier, ahead of their pitch invasion, with the tie nearly won.

Stoke went for the game in extra-time, and referee Mike Dean gave the Potters a free-kick on the edge of the box in the 114th minute, with O'Connor standing over it looking to bag his brace and complete a miraculous comeback.

What happened next saw Oulare write his name into club folklore forever, as the Irishman fired his set-piece goalwards, and the ball deflected off the Guinean’s backside and into the goal to make it 2-0, and 3-2 on aggregate.

Oulare's goal sparked wild scenes in the Ninian Park away end, and back at the Britannia Stadium where 7,000 fans watched on a stream, as well as iconic commentary from Radio Stoke's Nigel Johnson, who proclaimed that "it hit Oulare!" as the players wheeled away in celebration.

The Potters ran out worthy 2-0 winners in the final against Brentford, ten days later, and were back in the second-tier after years in the doldrums of the old Second Division, with the unlikely Oulare playing a huge part after his shock comeback from a serious health problem.

While the 30-year-old may not have known much about his goal at the time, he is still regarded as one of the club's most surprising cult heroes, and his story is still revered among Potters fans to this day.

Oulare spoke about his time at Stoke in more detail after retirement

It probably came as a surprise to many that Oulare failed to make another appearance for the Potters after his dream goal at Cardiff, but he was out-of-favour under both Steve Cotterill and Tony Pulis in the second-tier, and soon left the club in 2003 to return to Belgium, before his eventual retirement in 2006.

Never one to talk too publicly about his career, the Guinean did speak to the Belgian press in 2007 about his health issues at the start of his infamous spell in the Potteries, with some slight misremembrance over which part of his body the ball cannoned into the net off against the Bluebirds.

He said, via StokeonTrentLive: “I coughed up blood overnight in the team hotel.

“There was a blood clot on my lungs. I was completely panicked and eventually had to rest for three months and take blood thinners.

“Only after three months I could play, but not without risks. By taking blood thinners, my blood was very fluid. Any fresh wound would not clot and so the club doctor advised me to avoid contact.

“I could play in the play-offs. With only five minutes left in extra-time I headed in the winning goal. That was very nice. I forgot immediately all my misery.”

It was a sweet moment for Oulare, and his goal left a lasting impact on Stoke, as their promotion that season saw them eventually go up again to the Premier League six years later, and led to some of the best years in the club's history, which may not have happened had he not scored in the dying embers of that night at Ninian Park.