Senegal out to make an impact
• Liverpool striker Mane is foremost of star players
Senegal’s most recent appearance at the World Cup, 16 years ago, marked a golden era in the country’s football history and a new generation of talent will fancy their chances of making a similar impact at Russia 2018.
Senegal caused one of the tournament’s most memorable upsets in their only World Cup appearance, beating holders France in the opening game before going on to reach the quarterfinals.
That tournament preceded more than a decade in the doldrums in which they did not reach football’s global showpiece or even threaten to capture an African title.
Yet after breezing through qualifying with a team boasting a number of players who are making waves in some of Europe’s biggest leagues, hopes are high for Russia.
The 2002 side was spearheaded by former Liverpool forward El Hadji Diouf, and the current crop also rely on a man plying his trade on Merseyside.
Attacking talisman Sadio Mane carries the goalscoring and creative burden for Senegal and heads to the World Cup in good form having helped to fire Liverpool into the Champions League final.
While he began the season in underwhelming form, he picked up momentum as it went on, forming a crucial part of one of Europe’s most feared attacking strike forces with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
He is not Senegal’s only player to have made a major impact at their club this season.
Their defence is marshalled by Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, whose pace and strength make him a formidable obstacle.
Koulibaly has been part of a Napoli side that pushed Juventus all the way in the Italian title race, although his season closed with contrasting emotions.
He scored the winner when the top two played each other in April before seeing red in their next match, a 3-0 defeat by Fiorentina that effectively ended their Serie A hopes.
Senegal, coached by their captain in 2002, Aliou Cisse, lost only once in qualifying. That 2-1 defeat in SA, however, was later expunged from the records after Fifa found that the referee had manipulated the match on behalf of a betting syndicate.
They will certainly not be daunted by what awaits them in Russia, having been drawn in Group H alongside Poland, Colombia and Japan with no clear favourite to progress.
If they are to emulate their predecessors in 2002 and reach the quarterfinals, Senegal will then have to play the first- or second-placed team from Group G, which features Belgium, England, Panama and Tunisia.