Aliou Cisse has revealed how he convinced Africa’s best defender Kalidou Koulibaly to play for Senegal and not former world champions France.
The Napoli defender, born in France could have played for the Les Blues but Cisse, his current coach with the Lions of Teranga promised him Senegal would play in the Afcon final and also play at the World Cup.
“My relationship with them is like father-son one,” he said. “When I became their coach in 2015 I told them our target is to reach the FIFA World Cup and the Africa Cup of Nations final,” he added.
That was the way to convince Kalidou Koulibaly to play for Senegal instead of France. Now here we are.
Aliou Cisse, Senegal coach
Unfortunately, Koulibaly will miss the final through suspension after getting booked harshly in the semi-final win over Tunisia.
Better than 2002?
Meanwhile, Cisse, the captain who guided Senegal to the Afcon finals in 2002 and also the quarterfinal of the 2002 Fifa World Cup believes the current generation is better than his.
“I have unlimited trust in my players and I felt they want to achieve something. They did all what is needed to win. This generation is better than the 2002 one. My players told me they will be better than us, and they did.”
Senegal have never won the Afcon and came close only in 2002 when they lost to Cameroon on penalties.
They have a chance to make things right when they take on Algeria in the 2019 final on Friday.
