Football: Factbox-Soccer-Profile of Senegal team for 2023 Africa Cup of Nations

ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Factbox on Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers Senegal.

Africa Cup of Nations record:

Previous appearances in finals: (16) 1965, 1968, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021

Best performance: Winners 2021

Drawn in Group C with Cameroon, Gambia and Guinea.

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Coach: Aliou Cisse

Senegal’s coach took them to the title at the last finals, achieving what narrowly failed him as a player. He had missed the decisive penalty when Cameroon edged Senegal in the 2002 Cup of Nations final in Bamako, Mali. Cisse captained Senegal at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, where they beat holders France in the opening game and reached the quarter final, and his club career took in spells at Lille and Paris St Germain before he played in the English Premier League with Birmingham City and Portsmouth.

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Key player: Sadio Mane. Age: 31. Forward.

The two-time African Footballer of the Year thrashed home the winning penalty when Senegal won the last Cup of Nations and a few months later repeated the feat as they qualified for the World Cup in Qatar – both times over former clubmate Mohamed Salah’s Egypt. Mane competes at a fifth Cup of Nations finals, having been a regular for his country since 2012 and having amassed 100 caps. He was the second Senegalese player to be voted Africa’s top footballer, after El Hadji Diouf, and has hero status in his country for his exploits at club level, as well as his charitable deeds.

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FIFA world ranking Dec 2023: 20

How they qualified: Top place in Group L, ahead of Mozambique, Benin and Rwanda

Squad

Goalkeepers: Mory Diaw (Clermont Foot), Seny Dieng (Middlesbrough), Edouard Mendy (Al Ahli Jeddah)

Defenders: Fode Ballo-Toure (Fulham), Abdou Diallo (Al Arabi), Ismail Jakobs (Monaco), Kalidou Koulibaly (Al Hilal), Formose Mendy (Lorient), Abdoulaye Ndiaye (Troyes), Moussa Niakhate (Nottingham Forest), Youssouf Sabaly (Real Betis), Abdoulaye Seck (Maccabi Haifa)

Midfielders: Krepin Diatta (Monaco), Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton), Pape Gueye (Olympique de Marseille), Cheikhou Kouyate (Nottingham Forest), Nampalys Mendy (Racing Lens), Iliman Ndiaye (Olympique de Marseille), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur)

Forwards: Lamine Camara (Metz), Pathe Ciss (Rayo Vallecano), Boulaye Dia (Salernitana), Habib Diallo (Al Shabab), Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea), Sadio Mane (Al Nassr), Ismailia Sarr (Olympique de Marseille), Abdallah Sima (Rangers).

(Compiled by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Toby Davis)