After their shocking elimination out of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal Head coach, Aliou Cisse has admitted, they have underachieved.
For a country that lost no game in the qualifiers, winning six out of six, Senegal was surely one of the pre-tournament favourities.
A shocking 5-4 penalty shoot-out loss to Cameroon after normal time had ended goal-less left the Teranga Lions out of the tournament.
Cisse confessed at the post match official press conference that they were expecting a lot from the tournament but fell short.
The elimination is not easy for us.
It is hard for us and the country, who were expecting so much from us. I feel sorry for the players who wanted to write their own piece of history. It is a big disappointment for me and the entire team.
I am the first person to feel their pain. It is very hard for us in the dressing room, but we can raise our heads high.
Cisse, a former International himself with the Teranga Lions reasons that the inability by his side to convert the created chances let down his team.
He also gives special credit to the Cameroon defence that was solid throughout the match.
The Cameroonian defence was compact from the start till the end. We created several opportunities but they resisted all our attacks. We were not collective upfront and missed a lot of chances.
What we missed today was the fact that some players failed to realise that they cannot do it alone.
For 11 years, Senegal has failed to reach this stage. We have worked for two years to reach here. However, there is still a lot of work to be done.
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane failed to convert his kick from the penalty spot with scores tied at 4 all following a great save by Seville goalkeeper Fabrice Ondoa.
This gave Cameroon the green light to convert and win the match 5-4 on penalties.
