The Sunday News
Mugove Chigada in Franceville, Gabon
SENEGAL star Mame Biram Diouf has praised Warriors goalie Tatenda Mukuruva while also promising to keep their unbeaten record intact when they face Algeria in the last game.
The Lions of Teranga were unbeaten in the qualifiers and they have booked their place in the quarter-finals after beating Tunisia and Zimbabwe 2-0 in both group B matches. Now if they avoid defeat in the last group match at the 2017 Afcon finals in Libreville on Monday, they will give the Warriors a chance. However, Kalisto Pasuwa’s charges will have to win their own game, the Tunisia challenge. Diouf said they were planning to be more lethal against Algeria than they were in the last game.
“In the beginning Zimbabwe yes, they were solid, but when we scored two goals they started to come out and leave a lot of space for us. It was good for us, then we missed a lot of chances because they have a great goalkeeper. I don’t know what happened but I have to go and work on that one (finishing),” he said.
“None of the games we will play will be easy but for us we just have to go game by game. Our next game is Algeria and we just need to keep going and keep trying our best. It is always hard. Today you play Tunisia and tomorrow you play a different team. We had good defensive show and we just have to go and keep the good record,” said Diouf.
If Senegal live up to their word and beat Algeria, the Warriors will have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals by beating Tunisia. Senegal, the best ranked team in Africa, have been ruthless and are favourites to lift the Afcon title here in Gabon.
“It’s still too early to say because we have just played two games. We are really focused and we have a strong team. It’s been a while since we got the chance to go on to the next stage and now we have a chance to do it. We are going to keep on focusing on every game and that is the only way.
“It is not going to be easy because when you qualify you think it is easy but nothing is easy in the Afcon. Yes, we are improving playing as a team and lack of passing was our biggest mistake in the past. Everyone wanted to do it you know but now we are thinking and playing as a team. We are backing each other and trying to do things as a team. It can be a good start for us. We did that against Tunisia. We suffered at the end but we played as a team and now we will do it again,’’ he said.
He conceded that none of the matches they have played were easy. What was crucial for the West Africans was to stick to their game plan given by their coach Aliou Cisse.
“It’s good to have that mentality of doing things as a team. None of the games we have played were easy. The coach simply gave us a game plan against Zimbabwe. He just said display your football. We were just trying to enjoy our game and it will not be different against Algeria,” said Diouf.
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said they will not be resting players for the Algeria game.
“The objective remains the same. We came here to win matches. This is a match involving great teams and you can expect a great match. We are going to use our great players,” said Cisse.
For the Warriors, two key players with injuries, Knowledge Musona and Danny Phiri, are expected to be fit for the challenge.
Yesterday the Warriors were expected to hold their training in the evening in Libreville. Pasuwa believes they have learned valuable lessons from the Algeria and Senegal games.
He said: “It is very important that we try to be more competitive in our last game. We have played two matches so far and we have seen our weaknesses and strengths. We will try to improve so that we go there against Tunisia and try to collect maximum points. There are senior players in the team and I will be expecting them to try and motivate the boys,’’ said Pasuwa.
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