19 January 2024
Charles Konan Banny stadium, Yamoussoukro 8pm (EAT)
Reigning Africa Cup of Nations holders Senegal lock horns with five-time champions Cameroon in a blockbuster on Friday in Group C.
The Lions of Teranga began their 2024 campaign with a rather comfortable 3-0 victory over a ten-man Gambia while the Indomitable Lions could only afford a draw against 10-man Guinea.
Anything less than victory for the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will leave them looking over their shoulders ahead of their final group game, though any early exit seems unlikely given they progressed from ten of their last 11 AFCON group stages.
Aliou Cisse Senegal Coach
“It was important to enter the competition with a victory, which encourages the players. We are ready for the second match against a strong team, and we have prepared well for it. We know Cameroon well and it is a strong African team.
“Cameroon remains Cameroon. Our match against them is not revenge. Cameroon have already won many continental titles and we are going to face a team motivated to make up for the result they got in the first match.
“We have a competitive group and all players can participate, it doesn’t matter who starts the match, the most important thing is the performance provided. Our team does not suffer from a lack of efficiency and we scored 3 goals in the first match.
Idrissa Gana Gueye, Senegal midfielder
“We prepared well for this competition; we are in good shape. We have been with the coach for a while. He led us to the title in Cameroon. To try to do the same thing again, you have to keep the same state of mind, which is to live well in the group.
Everyone is going in the same direction, that is to say the Senegalese team which wins, which listens to the coach’s instructions, which lives together, which trains well and above all which is in shape to go as far as possible.
We need 3 points in the match, we are not going to go into details, we must not go into calculations. We are going to seek victory; I trust the players that the match against Senegal will be different.
Georges Kevin Nkoudou, Cameroonian striker
“It’s true that Senegal is the favourite, but as I always say we must never bury Cameroon, we remain a great team and a great nation.
“They started this tournament with a very good victory against Gambia. For our part, we had a good match but unfortunately, we only got one point. We have to put this behind us for now, and focus on our match against Senegal which will be very difficult for both teams. I think we have all the weapons necessary to be able to put them in a more difficult position”.
