Angry Cisse blasts Senegal defence following Japan draw

Aliou Cisse is a Senegalese football coach and former player who begun his career in France and later played for English clubs Birmingham City and Portsmouth. Cisse was a defensive midfielder who also, on occasion, played at centre back. The Senegalese boss criticised his team for letting Japan equalise twice in their World Cup Group H game on Sunday, and said he expected more from central defenders Kalidou Koulibaly and Salif Sane.

In an exciting but error-strewn 2-2 draw, the Africans went ahead through Sadio Mane and dominated for much of the first half until Takashi Inui replied with a curling shot for Japan. After the break though, Japan did most of the attacking.

“Of course there are regrets, but we must say we didn’t see a great Senegal team tonight compared to the previous match against Poland,” Cisse said.

“Despite the fact we were leading twice, what is annoying for me is the two goals we conceded. All I know is at this level of competition with the players we have today, who are world-class, these were avoidable goals. That is crystal clear.”

“The best team on the pitch was Japan, we have to admit,” said Cisse, who as captain led Senegal to the quarter-finals in 2002. “We were getting the ball and then we were losing it… I thought there were a lot of technical errors, too many.”