Record busy day in the auditorium of the Rabat media center. This Saturday, more than 300 journalists from around the world gathered to attend the press conference of Pape Thiaw, the coach of Senegal whose team will challenge Morocco on Sunday evening in the final of the 35th edition of the African Cup of Nations.
Arriving twenty-five minutes late than the initially planned time, due to a late escort, the Teranga Lions technician began by having a rant. In the wake of the minute of silence in tribute to Mohamed Soumaré, a Malian journalist who died in Rabat, the Senegalese coach returned to the disorder and the somewhat too light security which accompanied the arrival of the selection Friday evening at the Rabat station.
“I prefer not to talk about what happened yesterday, the Federation did it,” he began, referring to the press release issued by the Senegalese authorities. But it is the image of Africa that is at stake. People said that the CAN is not a major competition. Sadio Mané deserved the Golden Ball. We have to finish this organization. What happened yesterday was abnormal! A team like Senegal, we leave it with the crowd, like that! My players were in danger. If there had been bad intentions, anything could have happened. This must not happen, especially between two brother countries. »
“Let’s hope it’s a great final and a celebration for Africa”
Following the events of the day before, the Senegalese federation issued a press release in the morning to the attention of CAF, organizer of the event, a little too light, according to it, on this episode. “The FSF deplores the obvious absence of adequate security arrangements upon the arrival of the Senegalese delegation at the Rabat railway station,” the Federation wrote. This deficiency exposed the players and technical staff to promiscuity and risks incompatible with the standards of a competition of this scale and the standing of a continental final. »
After this update, Pape Thiaw, accompanied by Lyonnais Moussa Niakhaté, returned to football.
“Let’s hope it’s a great final and a celebration for Africa,” assured the Teranga Lions coach, adding: “Our competition, before, no one watched it. Today we took it very high, we must not spoil it. »
“The favorite is Morocco”
And to look forward to the meeting on Sunday evening: “We will have to be ready on all levels, mentally, physically. Morocco has raised the level of African football. They should be congratulated for that. Sunday will not be an easy match for us. But, believe me, we won’t make it easy for them either. »
An opinion obviously shared by the Lyon defender who should start on Sunday in central defense. “I don’t like the phrase about spoiling the party because we are respectful,” explains Niakhaté. These are the values of Senegal, we respect our opponent. Especially since Morocco and Senegal are two brother countries, it’s real, we’ve felt it since the start of the competition. We must not waste all this on the last 48 hours of the competition. But we are going to make sure that we are the ones who win, we are determined as ever. When you are a football player and you wear the national team jersey, you play to experience atmospheres like these. We want to bring the Cup back to our families, to Dakar, and we are going to give our all to get there. »
Pape Thiaw nevertheless recognized that “the favorite is Morocco”. “They are first in the CAF rankings, eleventh in the Fifa rankings. We are the second country in Africa, eighteenth in the world rankings, explained the coach. But we are here, we worked very hard to be here and to have the right to play this match. It’s the dream finale, the one that everyone was waiting for. We will try to make the party more beautiful. »
