Pape Thiaw: Nous sommes prudents pour la compétition et sereins pour le derby

When Senegal walk onto the pitch for their first game at the TotalEnergies CHAN 2022 against rivals Côte d’Ivoire on Saturday at the May 19, 1956 stadium in Annaba, the Teranga Lions will be seeking nothing but victory.

Pape Thiaw’s side are confident that they are in the right place to compete against top quality sides in the continental competition organized for players who ply their trade in the domestic leagues in their countries.

“We [Senegal] are here as African [AFCON] champions. Aliou Badara Faty is here. It is good to have such quality. We take all these factors seriously. Côte d’Ivoire is in our region so it will be an interesting match,” explained Thiaw in the pre-match press conference.

Faty was the third-choice goalkeeper as Senegal won their first ever AFCON trophy almost a year ago in Cameroon.

“Everything will be played on tactics and small details. Even if Côte d'Ivoire is our brother, the match will not be easy. Yes, our group is difficult but we have our qualities. Do not forget that we eliminated Guinea who finished third in the last edition of the CHAN.”

Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire were in the same Group A for the first ever CHAN edition in 2009 with the match ending as a goalless draw but Thiaw’s outfit has other ideas.

His captain Cheikh Tidiane Sidibé who is also a defender at Teungueth FC, "We know that Côte d'Ivoire is a very good team but we want to do everything tomorrow to get the maximum number of points in this complicated group.”

Senegal have big ambitions at the CHAN in Algeria thanks to Thiaw – an ambitious tactician who is in the early days of his coaching career following an illustrious playing career that saw him as part of the Senegal squad that made history when they defeated defending wolrd champions France 1-0 in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup before going on to reach the quarterfinals at the first time of asking.

Following in the footsteps of his former teammate and captain Aliou Cisse who masterminded the AFCON victory last year, Thiaw took over the team last year following the passing of the head coach Joseph Koto and as his deputy was handed the role.

“We are cautious because it has been 11 years since we qualified for the competition which is why we are determined to make the most of it. Uganda has a strong mentality while Côte d’Ivoire and DR Congo have senior players playing in the national team. We do not have as many but we have our weapons which we will deploy in the game,” Thiaw gave an insight of Group B.

Thiaw revealed that Cisse is his mentor and that, “I celebrate him for what he has done for Senegalese football. We cannot wait to be as successful as him.”

Senegal plan to draw lessons from their friendly games prior to heading to Algeria that saw them record three draws including a goalless one against Niger, 2-2 against Algeria and 1-1 against two-time CHAN winners Morocco.

Back in 2009, Senegal finished fourth following a 2-1 loss to Zambia in the third-place playoff before failing to make it out of the group stages at the next edition two years later. Thiaw wants his side to do better at the seventh CHAN edition in Algeria.