As Senegal’s new generation pursues its own World Cup success, coach Aliou Cisse said there’s plenty to work on and he should know. Senegal’s last appearance in the World Cup came in 2002, when the team reached the quarterfinals. Cisse was the captain of that squad. Now with Cisse as coach, the Lions of Teranga will play their final group stage match against Colombia on Thursday in Samara with a spot in the knockout round at stake.
“We need to improve the impact. We need to be more aggressive on the ball,” Cisse said. “At this level it goes very fast. We need to have more concentration. We need to be more rigorous.”
Japan and Senegal lead Group H with four points apiece. Colombia has three and could advance if it beats Senegal, and both could go through with a draw if Japan loses. Poland has been eliminated. The top two finishers in the group will go on to play opponents from Group G — either England or Belgium. Those teams play Thursday for the top spot in their group. Senegal opened the tournament in Russia with a 2-1 victory over Poland and followed that with a disappointing 2-2 draw against Japan.
“We were not very good, frankly,” Cisse said. “I think the best team on the pitch was Japan, I have to be honest.”