From left: Senegal’s defender Abdou Diallo, forward Ismaila Sarr, midfielder Moustapha Name and forward Famara Diedhiou attend a training session at Al Duhail SC, yesterday. AFP
Senegal could be without head coach Aliou Cisse when they face England tonight in the Round of 16 match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar. Cisse, who has been ill and has a fever, missed team training on Friday but plans to be on the sideline today at the Al Bayt Stadium, assistant coach Regis Bogaert disclosed.
“Aliou Cisse is sick, and he had a bit of a temperature, so that’s why we had to be careful with his situation. He’s been sick for a couple of days now, and he let us take charge of training yesterday,” Bogaert told reporters yesterday.
“Obviously, with his instructions that we got across to the players and hopefully tomorrow, he will be able to come and be on the bench with the players. But we are sure that at 10pm tomorrow, he will be there with the team,” he added
England and Senegal meet for the first time with a place in the quarter-finals at stake. It is England’s eighth fixture against an African opponent at the World Cup, and the Three Lions are unbeaten in the previous seven (W4 D3), the three draws all goalless. On the other hand, Senegal’s FIFA World Cup record against European sides is W3 D1 L2.
With Cisse at the helm, the Teranga Lions have been on an upward trajectory, qualifying for back-to-back World Cups and winning their first AFCON trophy.
Though the West Africans have shown they can win without influential captain Sadio Mane, out of the tournament due to injury, his presence in the team would undoubtedly be missed today.
“Beating England would be a tremendous achievement. I don’t know how important it would rate compared to the victory in 2002,” Bogaert said when asked to compare the 2002 victory over France in the opener, a team captained by Cisse.
“But if we can beat a team like that, it sends out a strong message about our progress.”
“The message is a strong one,” he said. “We’ve seen Cameroon can beat Brazil and Tunisia can beat France, so we know Senegal can beat England. That’s what we’re aiming for. That’s an important message.”
“I don’t know how important it would reach,” said Bogaert when asked to compare beating England to Senegal overcoming France at the 2002 World Cup.
“I am sure it is almost as important. For the players, the objective is to show what we can do against one of the top five teams in the world.”
According to Bogaert, the team already has a strategy and will be decisive with set pieces.
“We’ve identified some things, and the most important thing is set pieces can be decisive in these top matches. Our strategy is in place,” he added.
England’s Harry Kane and teammates during training. Reuters
England ready for shootout
Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate has insisted his side will be ready for penalties if it comes to that. Last summer, the Three Lions lost their latest shootout against Italy in the Euro 2020 final.
However, Southgate stressed they’ll be ready but want to win the game in 90 minutes.
“We’re prepared. We’ve had a process that we’ve followed,” Southgate said.
“We’ve won two of three shootouts and looked at how we can improve. But of course, we have to get so many other aspects right. We’re aiming to win the game in 90 minutes and avoid extra time and penalties. But if we need to go beyond that, we have to be ready mentally and physically. I believe we are,” he added.
The former defender also insisted the favourites tag is irrelevant in a one-off game.
“They (Senegal) have some excellent individual players who can cause problems, but a good structure as well. We will be considered the favourites and Senegal the underdogs but that doesn’t really mean anything in a one-off game.
“We learned a lot from playing seven matches at the last two tournaments and the need to keep the players involved emotionally,” he added.
Responding to a question about set-pieces training, Southgate said he hopes they improve in taking advantage of that situation.
“We haven’t been as effective from set-pieces as we would have liked to have been yet, so there’s definitely more improvement needed from us on that. Set-pieces and even throw-ins, those small details, every team in the world are trying to get better all the time,” the England manager added.
Striker Harry Kane who is yet to score in Qatar, declared himself fit and said the foot injury he suffered earlier has been getting better day by day.
“My foot feels fine. It’s no problem at all, “Kane said.
“I feel as match fit as I’m ever going to feel, and I think I’ve been playing well.
“Goals are what I will be judged on most, but I’m calm, and I always feel like doing my best for the team. Hopefully, I can get off the mark tomorrow.”
When: Today at 10:00pm
Where: Al Bayt Stadium
Capacity: 68,895
Key stats:
* After Marcus Rashford's second goal in their 3-0 win over Wales, England became the seventh team to reach the milestone of 100 World Cup goals after Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France and Spain.
* Senegal have reached the World Cup knockout stage for the second time. Their previous last 16 appearance came in 2002, when coach Aliou Cisse was captain.
* England are unbeaten against African opposition in all 21 meetings. At the World Cup, they have won three and drawn three times against teams from Africa.
Previous meetings:
This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
