AFCON winners Senegal ecstatic over World Cup qualification

AFCON winners Senegal ecstatic over World Cup qualification

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse has stated that his team went to grab the World Cup ticket from Egypt after beating the Pharaohs on penalties to reach the finals in Qatar.


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The Teranga Lions of Senegal are still celebrating their World Cup ticket and the manager has hailed his side as warriors.

Senegal delivered heartbreak for the second time in two months to Egypt on Tuesday after dumping the record African Cup of Nations title holders out of the running for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Prior to that, they beat Egypt in the final of the 2021 AFCON held in Cameroon.

All of Senegal is ecstatic about the victory, and manager Aliou Cisse, who was part of the Senegal team that upset the world and made it to the quarter finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, praised his players' desire and determination to go to the world cup.

“We saw warriors, players who wanted to go to the World Cup and that made the difference,” said the Senegal coach at a press conference.

"It was a complicated match, difficult to prepare for, but we have experienced players who, despite the pressure, were able to keep all their serenity despite everything."

Cisse noted that his squad has been together for a long time which made it easier for them to keep their heads. He also noted that a shared desire was key in their defeating Egypt in the playoffs.

''I was not worried about managing emotions, we have great players, experienced and despite the importance of this match, they kept the serenity of life and experience,'' Cisse said.

“The players also understood that they had to start the match well, unlike the Cairo match, even if we hadn't had a bad match.

“And it was good to make this big start which was the sine qua non condition for entering the match well."

After the AFCON final, Egypt promised revenge at the playoffs. They failed to get their revenge, and Cisse admitted that it was not an easy win as winning a tournament and playing other high-stakes matches almost immediately can be tricky to navigate.

"It's not easy to win an AFCON and then eliminate this kind of team", explained Cisse. "When you win the AFCON, you have to know how to play the matches that follow.

"We will be even better in Qatar. In 2018, we were eliminated at the group stage, today we have grown.

“We won the AFCON and in two difficult matches we took out Egypt, it can be beneficial for us in Qatar,” he added.

Carlos Queiroz, Egypt's manager, congratulated Senegal for making it to Qatar, asking them not to forget that they will be playing for all of Africa.


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