“The whole football family is sad”
National coach Aliou Cissé has described the task of replacing leading player Sadio Mané at the World Cup as very difficult for African champions Senegal. “It’s a shame for Sadio and the team. It’s a big challenge for us because all coaches build their team around their best player,” said the 46-year-old on Sunday. Nevertheless, his team is strong enough to achieve good results. “We have the experience of the 2018 World Cup and are African champions. That gives us a lot of self-confidence.” With a market value of 60 million euros, Mané is by far the most valuable Senegalese footballer.
Without Mané, who was operated on on Thursday, Senegal meets the Netherlands on Tuesday (5:00 p.m. CET/ZDF). The FC Bayern Munich striker will probably be replaced by Krépin Diatta (23) from AS Monaco. Cissé doesn’t want to change his tactics. “We have to stay true to ourselves. We have values and an identity. We don’t need to copy anyone. Our style suits our players. We don’t need to invent a new Senegal,” said the ex-pro, who worked for PSG, among others.
Mané’s absence has been the dominant issue in the past few days, and not just at home. “We’re not just talking about the people of Senegal. The whole football family is sad,” said Cissé. “He’s the second best player in the world, he represents the African continent. I got a lot of calls from people who were very sad.” Mané came second in this year’s Ballon d’Or election behind Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema (34), who will also miss the World Cup at short notice.
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Senegal with good statistics in World Cup opening games
The statistics are on the side of the African champions before the start of the World Cup in Doha’s Al-Thumama Stadium. Senegal has won its first game in its previous World Cup appearances in 2002 and 2018. Cissé doesn’t want to exaggerate that. “The Netherlands have always had a good start to a World Cup,” said the coach. But of course you hope to win again. In 2002, Senegal defeated the reigning world champions France, and four years ago they beat Poland. That year, in 13 international matches, they only lost once.
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