Senegal’s head coach Saliou Dia says his team will go all out when they take on South Africa in Wednesday evening’s TotalEnergies U17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) quarterfinal at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.
The match will be a double-edged sword, with passage to the semifinal and a ticket to the U17 Fifa World Cup at stake.
Senegal have never qualified for the Under-17 World Cup and coach Dia says they will stop at nothing to attempt their maiden appearance.
“This is a big challenge for us, but we want to continue competing and play until the last day. We will make every effort to win. Despite their age, our players are really good at dealing with the pressure. We will try to work on our concentration to ensure we give our best,” noted the tactician.
Senegal have qualified to the knockout phase of the competition for the first time in their history, and they did so in convincing fashion winning all their group stage games without conceding a single goal.
Coach Dia says they have had the results courtesy of their good planning and training before the tournament, and has urged his players to maintain the same discipline, ambition and hard work.
“We want these players to keep on getting this experience and winning against South Africa means that we have at least two more matches for them,” said the tactician.
At the same time, midfielder Fallou Fall says qualification to the World Cup is one of their biggest driving forces as they prepare for the duel against the South Africans.
“We will get into the match with the same spirit we had in the first three games and we will fight to win. Qualification to the World Cup is very important for us and we will try to achieve that,” he noted.
The Senegalese say they will not take South Africa lightly despite the fact they qualified as the second of the best third placed teams.