The Zaragoza-born winger was one of five academy products on the pitch as Saints knocked Championship rivals Leicester City out of the FA Cup.
Cam Bragg, who has pretty much graduated fully to the seniors, was man of the match over 120 minutes, but Sillah Dibaga was the pick of the rest.
With his first touch, the 19 year old sized up £20million Oliver Skipp and tried his luck from range, and he teed up Cameron Archer with his next.
Sillah Dibaga then nutmegged FA Cup winner Ricardo Pereira to get down the line again, and he put the yards in to recover whenever his efforts failed.
“I was excited that I was going to get involved with the first team,” he told the Daily Echo. “Once I got the news, the first thing I did was tell my family.
Sufianu Sillah Dibaga during the Leicester City match (Image: Stuart Martin)
“After that, I just had to get ready in case I was to come onto the pitch. I needed to prepare myself, but when I was on the pitch, I was just myself.
“I played like I always do. Being direct, being a threat. I was happy with how I played, especially with it being my debut, but I wasn’t nervous.
“I was just confident to show what I normally do.”
James Bree headed home the winner deep into extra time against the Foxes, but the lasting impression of the afternoon was one for the academy.
Saints are arranging for the match balls to be signed and presented to Sillah Dibaga, Barnaby Williams, Nick Oyekunle and Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh, as well as unused substitutes Tommy Dobson-Ventura and Moses Sesay, to keep.
“It was a nice feeling to win because I played with them in the under-21s, and there we were sharing the pitch with the first team,” Sillah Dibaga added.
Sillah Dibaga was rewarded with a brand-new deal after his debut, tying him up until 2028. He had only just signed his last extension in the summer.
Two weeks earlier, he had scored a nice goal for the under-21s at Chelsea, cutting in from the left and hooking to the near-post with his right foot.
But, though he was more prolific with the age group below, as they finished second in the south division last season, that was only his third at the level.
He is not a player who is going to put up goals and assists every week, but is a key cog in creation with a lot of dribbles and one-versus-one duels.
Head coach Tonda Eckert, who was Sillah Dibaga’s under-21s boss until taking over the first team in November, told us: “He is a big prospect.
Sufianu Sillah Dibaga during the Leicester City match (Image: Stuart Martin)
“When I came in, he was an out-and-out winger. We made him defend a little bit more than he was used to, and I actually think he did this quite well.
“He accepted his new role, playing as a wing-back, and he had an unbelievable output physically, with some very good quality one against one.
“He still has a lot of things to learn, which I think is normal for his age, but he is a big prospect. I’m very happy that we have him with us for the next years.”
On Eckert, Dibaga added: “It is good to have Tonda as the manager. Having worked with us before, it gives us more confidence to just be ourselves.
“I played just how we played when we had him as our under-21s coach.”
Adam Lallana has taken over from Eckert, providing the next generation of Saints players with an exact roadmap of how to make it in the game.
“I didn’t know too much about him, but I know now,” said Sillah Dibaga. “He’s given me advice to keep my head down, keep working and stay consistent.
“He said that is what’s going to make you get to the next level.”
Sillah Dibaga first arrived at Staplewood in 2023, following a brief stint with Crystal Palace’s under-16s, but much of his education came at Levels FC.
Teammate Abdul Okunola, the under-21s defender who scored against Real Madrid at St Mary’s, also developed at the London grassroots academy.
But football is in Sillah Dibaga’s blood, with a 25 year old cousin – Musa Dibaga – regularly starting in goal for Northern Irish outfit Crusaders.
“He also plays for the Gambian team,” said Dibaga, who himself qualifies for the West African nation. “Although I didn’t really play with him much.
“I played mostly with my older brother. He used to play football as well. He was a defender who was much stronger and faster, so it was a good test.”
Sufianu Sillah Dibaga during the Leicester City match (Image: Stuart Martin)
Sillah Dibaga grew up in Spain, playing football in the youth system of a third division team, and his family did not move to England until he was 12.
The technical influences of Spanish football, combined with the power and pace in England, have probably gone some way to shaping the player.
“First, it was very hard because I was new to the country, and in a new environment,” he said. “The weather, especially, was so much different.
“In Spain, football is more technical. Here in England, it’s more physical. You have to run more, be more fit and win a lot of battles. I’ve gotten used to it.
“I’ve just used my abilities to get past players, and it’s good to be bilingual and speak different languages. All of that helps in football, I think.
“I spoke to a few of the first team guys who speak Spanish as well, including Leo Scienza. It’s good to be able to speak two different languages.”