The triumph of Senegal on the Africa Cup 2021 finally crowns a team that, after mediocre results throughout the 20th century, has managed to become a great power on its continent since the turn of the millennium. His victory in the penalty shootout of the final against Egypt He made good the forecasts that pointed it out, before starting, as one of the strongest teams due to the collection of footballers from big European clubs that he presented on his squad. This title highlights two issues related to the figure of the coach Aliou Cisse and that do not abound in African football: trust in the national product for positions of responsibility on the bench and the commitment to continuity and long processes.
Cisse was born in Ziguinchor, a Senegalese town, before moving to Paris with his family at the age of nine. This is not a minor detail. Accustomed to the fact that most federations on the continent hire European coaches with unsuccessful careers -understanding that, just because they are European, they will be more prepared and will provide extra knowledge than in Africa you don’t own-, Senegal chose in 2015 to hand over the bench to a local legend: the captain of the team that was proclaimed runner-up in Africa in 2002 and reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Korea and Japan. In this sense, the fact that Cissé has triumphed should be considered as positive news, since he is going to become a benchmark and a role model in a profession, that of coaching, which often still contains discriminatory prejudices.
Cissé, moreover, was left at the gates of glory in the previous edition, that of 2019. He reached the final and, as had happened to him as a player, he lost it. It happened a year after the Russia World Cup his team will be eliminated in the group stage only by the fair-play ranking as a tiebreaker. Despite these disappointments, Senegal did not make a hot decision then and gave it continuity. Now collect the fruits.
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