The Lions of Teranga want to bring back to the Senegalese people the indescribable euphoria felt after the first continental coronation in their history, in 2022. Wednesday, during the traditional presentation of the national flag before the flight to Yamoussoukro, President Macky Sall assigned players the objective of retaining their title of African champions. A real challenge given the exceptional competition that awaits them in Ivory Coast.
Senegal faced Niger on Monday January 8 for its one and only friendly match before entering the CAN on January 15 against Gambia. The game ended with an extremis victory (1-0) for the Lions of Teranga, facing a crowd gathered in the Abdoulaye Wade stadium in Diamniadio, the new Senegalese city just outside Dakar.
A result considered disappointing by a large part of the public who hoped for a big victory against an opponent considered “modest”, in order to build up their confidence before the competition.
“The team is not yet ready, that worries me a little,” says a supporter after the match, punctuated by the chants of the fans remaining in the collective memory, after the coronation of 2022.
“It was a simple friendly match, the players are not given 100% to avoid injuries,” puts another into perspective.
“We have already experienced the joy of a final victory at the CAN. We want this joy to never leave us. The Cup will remain in Senegal inchallah”, exclaims Abibou, a fan of the selection who proudly wears the white jersey flocked with his name.
Senegal has the habit of starting its continental campaigns timidly. In Cameroon, during the last edition, the Lions won only one of their three group matches with a single goal scored, before moving up a gear during the knockout matches and ending up winning the continental trophy.
A generational mix
Despite a fair state of form with three victories in their last six matches played, the players, the star of the team Sadio Mané and the coach Aliou Cissé all reaffirmed to the media their ambition to retain their title. To achieve its objective, Senegal is banking on an experienced group.
Marième Ndiaye, sports journalist for the Senegalese daily Les Échos, says she is reassured by the group of selected players.
“The generational mix composed by Aliou Cissé is very interesting. We see duos of young players and experienced players who get along well, like the young Lamine Camara and Idrissa Gana Gueye, one of the team’s executives, who has more than ten years of experience in selection. I think it is this mix that makes Senegal strong,” she analyzes.
However, none of the players selected for the CAN play in the Senegalese championship. Four of them, including the biggest stars of the selection, have attempted the adventure in Saudi Arabia since the start of the season. The adored goleador Sadio Mané, captain Kalidou Koulibaly, goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and the leading striker expected to start at this CAN, Habib Diallo, have joined the new El Dorado of football.
The curse of the reigning champion
“We are the team to beat,” El Hadji Diouf, retired legend of the national team and advisor to the president of the Senegalese Football Federation, keeps repeating, while all the opponents for the title seem to be waiting. the Lions.
Historically, the reigning champions have often been in great difficulty during the last CAN. What is commonly called the champion’s curse has already affected former winners like Cameroon, titled in 2017 and eliminated in the round of 16 in 2019. Algeria, crowned in 2019, was released to the surprise general from the first round of CAN 2022.
“It is difficult to master a CAN. The editions can follow one another and not be the same. We are at 24 selections and there is no longer a little thumb. We will have to fight to achieve the final victory”, warns Marième Ndiaye .
Mohamed Ghandour, another African football specialist, prefers to be more Cartesian. The assistant coach of the Senegal futsal team believes that the misadventures of the former African champions could stimulate the Lions.
“The champion’s curse is not rational. It remains history. Algeria arrived at the last CAN with an unbeaten streak of more than 20 victories, but we had seen warning signs of its decline. We felt that the team was starting to run out of steam, which is not the case in Senegal,” the consultant convinced himself, speaking on national television.
Read alsoCAN-2022: “One, two, three”, Algeria is out
To achieve the “back to back”, Senegal will however have to get rid of other favorites who arrive at the CAN with solid arguments. For Mohamed Ghandour, the real competition will start in the quarter-finals where the big teams are usually there.
“It will be a very interesting CAN, believes Mohamed Ghandour. Egypt is a solid team, increasingly dangerous, with Mohamed Salah in form. Nigeria has a real offensive armada but is fragile in defense. Morocco, for its part, is a very good team which arrives at the CAN with a status given its results during the last World Cup (semi-finalist). We should not forget the Ivory Coast if the coach Jean Louis Gasset manages to do well make your team play.
The reigning champions will enter the fray on Monday January 15 against their Gambian neighbor. A first West African derby which calls for others because the Lions will face Guinea, another border country. Finally, to get out of a fairly tough group, even described as a “group of death”, Aliou Cissé’s men will have to do well in a feline duel against the Cameroonian Indomitable Lions.