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Moscow: With his great potential, his coach, Aliou Cissé, his technical leader Sadio Mané and his qualification for a World Cup, the current selection of Senegal recalls, in many ways, the Generation 2002. However, the difference between the two teams in terms of performance, is still huge. While Diouf and his team-mates won a silver medal at the 2002 Can, and obtained a quarter-finalist spot at the Korea-Japan World Cup, Aliou Cissé's protégés are slow to "write their own story". Can 2019 be the good?
Exiting the flanks of the Olympic team, a surprising quarter-finalist at the London 2012 Games, the current selection of Senegal reminds, no doubt, that of 2002. And c It is right that some observers like to compare the two generations regularly. Especially since there is a link that brings them together and facilitates this tendency to compare: Aliou Cissé, captain of the band El Hadj Ousseynou Diouf and coach of the team of Senegal since March 4, 2015 in replacement of the French coach Alain Giresse, sacked for lack of results, the day after the Equatorial Guinean Can.
Side likeness, there is first of all the talent and great potential that characterize the two generations. A revealing sign: in 2002, on the list of 23 players convened in Japan by the coach Bruno Metsu, 22 were playing abroad especially in European championships known for their very high level. Only one, goalkeeper Kalidou Cissokho, at the time resident of the Joan of Arc, was from the local championship. In 2018 in Russia, Aliou Cissé did not call any local; the entire workforce is made up of expatriates including Khadim Ndiaye, who lives at Horoya Fc in Guinea. For the most part, the players selected for the 2018 World Cup come from the French Ligue 1, England and Italy. The only local footballer who was likely to be part of the Russian campaign, Pape Seydou Ndiaye, the guardian of Diaraf, was finally zapped by the coach Aliou Cissé, on the occasion of the publication of the list of 23 to defend the colors from Senegal to Russia. This configuration provides sufficient information on the quality of the group.
On the individual level, comparisons were not lacking between El Hadj Diouf and Sadio Mané, respective technical leaders of the 2002 team and that of 2018. In addition, the former member of Lens was the first Senegalese footballer to have worn the colors of Liverpool; while the child of Bambaly evolves since the end of the 2016 season. Author of a very good World Cup, Youssouph Sabaly has also been praised by observers and supporters; to the point that one compares it more and more with Omar Daff, right-handed but excellent lateral left of the team of 2002.
The comparison between the two generations stops there so far. Because in terms of results, the gap is still huge. Despite their technical level, certainly superior to Diouf and his band, the foals of Aliou Cissé lag far behind those of Bruno Metsu, performance side. It is true that the latter did not win a major trophy, but they allowed Senegal to play its first final African Cup of Nations in 2002 in Mali. Credited by a good run at this Can, Henri Camara and his teammates had been braked in the final table by the indomitable Lions of Cameroon to the fateful series of shootings. The icing on the cake, they had, the same year, qualified Senegal at its first World Cup.
In Korea-Japan, the Téranga Lions had impressed the world, beating France, world champion and European title, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Turkey. To these unprecedented prowess, the selection of 2002 had added a quarter-finalist place to the Can 2004 in Tunisia and another place of semi-finalist in the 2006 Can, in Cairo in 2006.
With these beautiful performances, no doubts that Bruno Metsu's colts have a lot of head start on the current team whose record, to date, is limited to a quarter-finalist place in the 2017 Can. Despite their willingness "to write their own story, "as they like to repeat, Sadio Mané and his teammates still struggle to make good results. They still have a long way to go to realize their dream of offering Senegal their first continental trophy or, failing that, to match the performances of their predecessors of 2002.
In any case, the 2019 will be the occasion or never to enrich their charts. Otherwise, this competition could mark the end of a cycle; in view of the age of the players of the team
Of our special envoys: Cheikh Fantamady KEITA, Diégane SARR, Samba Oumar FALL,
B. Khalifa NDIAYE (texts) and Abdoulaye MBODJ (photos)
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