In the wake of the 2-0 loss in their opening FIFA World Cup encounter at the hands of the Netherlands on Monday, Senegal coach Aliou Cisse has called for aggression from his strikers.
The Lions of Teranga as Senegal is known in football, succumbed to a 2-0 defeat and Cisse was not unimpressed with his frontmen, saying they should pull up their socks.
As the reigning African champions and carrying hopes of the African continent, the West Africans’ camp, Senegal, has been hit by injuries to key players such as Cheickhou Kouyate.
Cisse spoke to the media after their defeat and pointed out that they need to be clinical in front of the goal as they will meet Qatar in the second match on Friday before facing Ecuador four days later.
Senegal headed to Qatar without the services of star player Sadio Mane who is sidelined owing to injury – they are third above hosts Qatar – who were beaten 2-0 by group leaders Ecuador.
“We are disappointed to have not scored, we had two or three very good chances. We needed to be more effective in front of goal,” Cisse told the media.
“Ismaila Sarr and Krepin Diatta are responsible there, but of course, the absence of Mane is a problem for us… Our attackers are good and we know what they are capable of.
“It was a challenging game…We need to work on it (scoring goals) with Ismaila and the others. We expect a lot from him and Krepin.”
Expressing his concerns about injured midfielder Kouyate and left back Abdou Diallo, Cisse said they still had to determine the extent of the duo’s injuries.
“I am worried about those who got injured….for Abdou, it’s a muscular problem and Kouyate twisted his ankle, we need to check and make sure they are ready for the other games,” he added.
“If we had won, we would have got off to the best way…. but now the second game can be difficult and we have to make sure we win it.
“The fact we have lost will motivate us, even more, to be better prepared for the next games.”
Main Image: Senegal Players/Twitter
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