Picture Credit: Twitter
Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse could be out for the Round of 16 clash against England as he has been suffering from illness, which has kept him out from the team’s training session for the last few days. The former Portsmouth man led Senegal to their maiden Africa Cup of Nations trophy earlier this year.
Cisse is managing a Sengalese side that has advanced from the group stage of a World Cup for the first time since 2002. Twenty years ago, Cisse was also part of the Lions of Teranga side which shocked defending champions France in the opening game before eventually losing to Turkey in the quarter-finals.
The 46-year-old wasn’t present for his media duties on Saturday, the day before the game against England in Al Khor. In Cisse’s absence, assistant coach Regis Bogaert addressed the media and confirmed the reason behind the former Paris Saint Germain player’s absence.
Regis Bogaert said, “He has been sick for a couple of days now. He let us take charge of training yesterday, obviously with his instructions to the players. Hopefully tomorrow he will be able to come and be on the bench with the players but we are sure at 10 pm he will be there with the team. I can confirm he is sick and has a bit of a temperature, that is why we have to be careful with his situation.”
Cisse has been Senegal's manager since 2015 and almost took them into the Round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Lions of Terenaga ultimately finished third in Group H by a whisker as they had a worse fair-play record than Japan after the two nations had the same points, goal difference and goals for statistics.
In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Senegal lost their opening game against the Netherlands 1-0. But immediately got to winning ways after beating hosts Qatar 3-1. Cisse’s men then took down Ecuador in the last group game to secure the pre-quarterfinals birth.