Senegal coach Cisse unwell ahead of England World Cup clash
Senegal's
preparations for their World Cup last-16 clash against England have been
hampered by an illness to coach Aliou Cisse but he is expected to recover in
time for Sunday's game.
Assistant
coach Regis Bogaert told a news conference that Cisse had not been able to take
training on Friday and may not be involved in Saturday's final session.
"Yesterday
(Friday) he let us take the training, using his instructions and the content he
had decided," said Bogaert, who stood in for Cisse at the press conference
in Doha.
"This
afternoon (Saturday) we hope he will be on the field, but we are sure that
tomorrow night at 10:00 pm (1900 GMT) it is him who will lead the team",
he added.
Bogaert did
not specify Cisse's illness, saying only that he had "a little fever,
that's why we are vigilant".
Senegal
reached the last 16 after beating Ecuador in their final Group A match,
securing second spot behind the Netherlands.
With Morocco
also progressing from the group stage, Bogaert said it was clear that Africa
was now making its presence felt on the global stage, which was adding to his
team's confidence.
"I
think it is a trend we will see more and more of," he said.
"In 2018
we heard a lot of criticism because there was no African team in the last 16,
now we have two, and two others were very close," he said.
"We
have seen Cameroon can beat Brazil, Tunisia can beat France and in our minds we
tell ourselves Senegal will beat England," he said.
"Our
team is developing, becoming mature. We are capable of beating anyone and we
need to be convinced of that," he added.
Bogaert said
that he and the coaching staff had spoken with Senegal players who play for
English clubs to gleen some insight into Gareth Southgate's players.
"We
have talked with some of those players, some are the more senior players as
well," he said. "It is important to have those talks."
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