Senegal coach Aliou Cisse and captain Kalidou Koulibaly fielded questions about Egypt’s top player Mohamed Salah At a news conference on Saturday.
Salah and Sadio Mane, Liverpool colleagues who will face off in their continent’s biggest event in the Cameroon city, have been the focus of the buildup leading up to Senegal’s Africa Cup of Nations final versus Egypt.
“Egypt is a team we’ve seen before, a team with a lot of personality, a team that plays according to its own set of rules. According to what I’ve said, they are the most African Arab team on the continent of Africa.
Because the Pirates’ roster is stacked with former Zamalek (Egypt Premier League) players. As a result, they are well-versed in African realities and possess a wealth of knowledge. Instead of focusing on Egypt’s actions, we want to focus on our own.”
Koulibaly talked about how to deal with Egypt’s captain’s great talent, but he suggested Senegal needed more than a “anti-Salah” plan to stop the Pharaoh King menace.
“We’re all familiar with Mohamed Salah’s talent. With his Roma teammate, I got the opportunity to compete against him in Italy. He is a player I am familiar with from our time together at Napoli and Liverpool.
I believe that more than an anti-Salah strategy, we will have to reduce the influence he has on his team by limiting his time on the ball. Being aware that he’s a player who can make a difference at any time means that, as defenders, we must remain focused on him while also keeping an eye on the others.
Because we can focus solely on Salah, but there is also another guy who comes into play. We can only defeat Salah and Egypt as a team if we all work together.”
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When it comes to AFCON, Senegal has never won the event, but Cisse, who led Senegal to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals as a player, has a history of success on the grandest platform.
