Senegal’s preparation for England World Cup clash suffers blow with manager Aliou Cisse ill and unable to take training
SENEGAL have suffered a World Cup blow with manager Aliou Cisse ill on the eve of their round of 16 clash with England.
The 46-year-old has been unwell for the last couple of days and did not take his side's pre-match press conference.
He also missed training today, with assistant Regis Bogaert having to step in.
Speaking ahead of the last-16 match between the Lions of Teranga and the Three Lions, Bogaert remained optimistic that Cisse would be able to take the team tomorrow night.
He said: "Aliou Cisse is sick and he had a bit of a temperature so that’s why we had to be careful with his situation.
"He’s been sick for a couple of days now and he let us take charge of training yesterday.
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"Obviously with his instructions that we got across to the players and hopefully tomorrow he will be able to come and be on the bench with the players.
"But we are sure that at 10pm tomorrow he will be there with the team.
"Beating England would be a tremendous achievement. I don’t know how important it would rate compared to the victory in 2002.
"But if we can beat a team like that, it sends out a strong message about the progress we have made."
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On Cisse's invaluable experience as a member of the Senegal side that beat France in Seoul 20 years ago, Bogaert added: "When he talks he uses data and his own experiences— he was part of that great team in 2002 so I think the team really trusts him as part of that experience.
"He says that to his players, the more you play in top clubs around the world, the more you will become top-notch players, and that’s very important.
"The more mature players need to pass on their experience to the younger ones.
"There are six who played in the WC before but many of our players have won in the AFCON and even won it.
"We’ve got very experienced players and we all know nothing can replace experience."
Bogaert, who himself managed the Lions of Teranga between 2012 and 2014, hailed Cisse’s energy, honesty and longevity as reasons for the country's upturn in recent years.
The No2 said: “I know him very well and knew him as a player. Now I’ve worked for 11 years as his assistant.
“We talk a lot and try to implement the project he launched. He has tremendous energy. He knows where he wants to go and gives everything.
“He has the capacity to learn and apply those lessons. That is very useful for progressing as a squad.
He will leave his mark, he has already left his mark on the Senegalese team
Regis Bogaert
“He always tells you directly what’s on his mind. He’s frank and honest and players appreciate that. If he likes what they’re doing he tells them and if he doesn’t like it so much he tells them as well.
“He will leave his mark, he has already left his mark on the Senegalese team. He’s been in the role since 2015 and not many international coaches have been in the role for that long.”
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