On Sunday afternoon Kalidou Koulibaly scored his fist goal for Chelsea in a 2-2 draw with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

It was a right-footed volley from the center of the box directly from a Marc Cucurella corner. As Cucurella stepped back to take the corner Koulibaly walked backwards towards the edge of the box, away from all the other players bunched up in the middle of the box. Then as the cross comes in, he takes a few steps forward, filling the space that had previously been occupied by the mass of shoving, unsuspecting footballers. He keeps his eye on the ball, plants his left foot, connects with his right, and has the presence of mind to hit the ball just hard enough to go past Hugo Lloris while still angling it away from him.

It's a perfectly executed technical strike that was entirely set up by his superior awareness and intelligence. Koulibaly knew where the open portion of the box would be and that if he could fill it, with no one marking him, he’d have a chance to score. Then when the ball did arrive exactly where he, and he alone, predicted it would, he executed perfectly.

This goal, comprising of intelligence, technique, and coordination, encapsulates what makes Koulibaly an elite player.  His mind and body are simply operating at a higher level than everyone else’s.

When Koulibaly completed his transfer from Napoli to Chelsea for €40 million, in mid-July, many words were written and recorded about the potential departure of one of Serie A’s best center backs. As you might imagine in Italy the idea of losing world class center backs is causing quite a fair amount of agita.

“If we don’t have center backs, what do we have?”

With Koulibaly’s move to Chelsea the Serie A didn’t just lose a transcendent player, who at times simply looked too good to play in the Serie A or the Europa League, it lost an individual who represented what the best version of football’s future could be. It had nothing to do with the fact that Koulibaly played the game with a quality and confidence on the ball that is the gold standard for modern center backs. Or that he had the defensive instincts and athleticism to mark players in the box, in space, and coming out from the backline. Or that said combination makes him the perfect center back.

What Serie A lost was a person who reminded us that sports don’t exist because we like to win but because they give us the opportunity to show the best of ourselves. That’s what Kalidou Koulibaly was; a reminder that we had the strength to be the kindest, most compassionate, most selfless versions of ourselves.

Every time he faced the multiple instances of racism, that are far too common and often accepted simply as part of the game in Italy, he did it with the grace that instantly remind us that it’s the bigots who deserve to be ostracized, not the subjects of their insults. Somehow, even in the worst moments he was a consummate role model.

In a Player’s Tribune article Koulibaly discussed a particularly shameful and heavily participated-in series of monkey chants during an away game at Lazio. After the final whistle, before going back to the locker room, he still had the presence of mind to find a young Lazio fan to whom he’d promised his jersey. Even in a moment when he was “very, very angry” he kept his word to a little kid. It was exemplary behavior because he did a good thing, he didn’t have to do, and that no one would care if he didn’t do.

In the same interview Koulibaly tells the story of his first visit to Senegal with his parents when he was six years old which also happens to be when his “football story begins.” When he saw his cousins and their friends playing football barefoot, he asked his mom to buy them all shoes. Can’t you just imagine a shy but smart six-year-old Kalidou looking up at his mom with his big eyes and handsome face asking her to help him right a wrong that neither of them was responsible for? Instead, his mom looked at him and said “Kalidou, just take your shoes off. Go play like they do.”

So, he did.

Maybe you weren’t able to help all those barefooted kids you met on your first visit to Senegal, but you were able to help a bunch of kids in Napoli believe in themselves, and in each other, because they knew they had the courage to always do the right thing because their hero did too.

Thanks for playing with us too, KK.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go look for my other shoe…