Senegal World Cup Team Blog http://senegal.worldcupblog.org World Cup 2010 - South Africa Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:47:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Moussa Sow for Senegal http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/moussa-sow-for-senegal.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/moussa-sow-for-senegal.html#comments Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:47:25 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/moussa-sow-for-senegal.html According to french newspaper France Football, The Lions of Senegal are trying to enrol 23 year-old striker Moussa Sow from Stade Rennais for their next friendly in Blois, against the Democratic Republic of Congo, as he holds both the French and Senegalese nationalities.

Already capped multiple times with the U-19 and U-21 in France, the Mantes-La-Jolie native is reportedly very eager to play for the Teranga Lions in the future and the Senegalese FA (Federation Senegalaise de Football) has received an authorisation from the FIFA to pick-up the youngster for their August 12th game.

Senegal, eliminated from both the African Cup of Nations in Angola and the World Cup in South Africa is trying to rebuild a very young team for the 2012 ACN in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea as well as the London Olympics.

In the past few months, the Senegalese FA has been trying to contact Cheickh Mbengue, Mickael Tavares, Issiar Dia and the Faty brothers with various successes.

If the FSF needs to be commanded for their nezly found eagerness to go out and find talent where it is, one thing we should have learned from the latest African Campionship of Nations is that ho;egrown talent can be as good as forign one. Let’s not forget how good the players in Senegal have become.

]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/moussa-sow-for-senegal.html/feed 0 El-Hadji Diouf is bigger than the President… http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/el-hadji-diouf-is-bigger-than-the-president.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/el-hadji-diouf-is-bigger-than-the-president.html#comments Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:53:03 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/el-hadji-diouf-is-bigger-than-the-president.html El Hadji Diouf is very entertaining; We knew that. That’s pretty much all the guy has left, that and the memories of a time when his name and playing skills actually meant something. It’s completely baffling to see that this once great player – that showed even greater promise – celebrated his 28th birthday this January 15th and when he should have been at the top of his game right now, he’s just another kid who peaked in high school.
But if there’s one thing you can count on is that Diouf, who transferred this summer from Bolton to Sunderland for four years, and who is still a man amongst men in our native Senegal, it is that he will keep putting his foot in his mouth.
In an interview relayed by website Goal.com, Diouf went on to say that he and the National Team that played in the 2002 World Cup made Senegal more relevant than any politician did up until that point:

“I am more popular than some presidents of Senegal because of what we did at the 2002 World Cup. Before that World Cup not many people had heard about Senegal but after what we achieved at that tournament the whole world got to know about my country.”

It is true that THAT World Cup gave us relevance but the hard truth is that the 2002 World Cup campaign hurt Senegalese football much more than it helped. We went further than any African team ever did and could have gone even further off the strength of an exceptional generation. And while that filled us with pride at the time, it now seems like an Al Bundy story. We were great six years ago. And since then the furthest we’ve gone was the semi-finals of the 2006 African cup of nations. Even worse we didn’t even qualify for the next ACN in Angola nor for the next World Cup in South Africa.
These two years will help us cleanse the system and make sure the next generations takes over for 2012.

As for El hadji Diouf, he’s happy at Sunderland even though he’s not playing a whole lot and still believes he’s playing the best football of his life. At least the man kept his confidence.

]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/el-hadji-diouf-is-bigger-than-the-president.html/feed 1 Ibrahima Snko asks his boss to go after Issiar Dia… http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/ibrahima-snko-asks-his-boss-to-go-after-issiar-dia.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/ibrahima-snko-asks-his-boss-to-go-after-issiar-dia.html#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:33:19 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/ibrahima-snko-asks-his-boss-to-go-after-issiar-dia.html Stoke City is fastly becoming some kind of Senegalese Eldorado. With already four Senegalese players in the roster (Ibrahima Sonko, Salif Diao, Abdoulaye Diagne Faye and Amdy Faye) and defender Lamine Diatta on trial as we speak, the Potters could add a fifth or sixth Lion to their roster in fast paced wing man Issiar Dia. Speaking with the BBC, Ibrahima Sonko urged his manager Tony Pulis to go after Issiar. The Ziguinchor native confessed that even though he was aware of Dia’s existence and hype over him, it took him to see him play with the national team for him to be convinced:

“Issiar is going to be big and I’ve said to Tony Pulis: ‘Gaffer, go and get him’. Because if it’s not us, someone else will and he can cause real problems.”

Issiar dia is indeed a very hot commodity as we speak. The Nancy forward impressed with his side’s incredible display against Marseilles on December 21st’s 0-3 victory at the Velodrome, and it would be a very nice coup if Stoke City could lure him into signing with them.
The task would be incredibly difficult though, as the Clairefontaine alum has just re-upped his contract and is said to be Marseilles’ Number ONE prospect for this summer, in case other Senegalese forward, Mamadou Niang, decides to leave the Canebiere.
Issiar has been pretty smart about his career moves so far, choosing Senegal over France and staying at Nancy despite offers from much bigger clubs. He must be aware of his worth in the market and could command much bigger checks from much bigger clubs than Stoke City.
Still interesting to see what could happen.

]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/ibrahima-snko-asks-his-boss-to-go-after-issiar-dia.html/feed 0 Bayal Sall is back for Saint-Etienne… http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/bayal-sall-is-back-for-saint-etienne.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/bayal-sall-is-back-for-saint-etienne.html#comments Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:36:53 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/bayal-sall-is-back-for-saint-etienne.html After having received a four-month suspension by FIFA, Moustapha Bayal Sall is back. The Gorée youth team legend signed two contracts in 2006 with both french side Saint-Etienne and Norwegians IK Start and chose the prior. The scandinavians sued and rightfully won their case.
Training without the possibility to play since August, Bayal watched while Saint-Etienne was getting beat by pretty much everyone in Ligue 1. And those bad results can be pinpointed by two major players not being there, Pascal Feinduno (who left for the Petrodollars) and Bayal Sall. The Tower is a defensive force and was playing wherever needed last season. This was supposed to be his big break season and it could still be the case. With a new coach and a new organization, Bayal could become even more important to the system that he ever was under Roussey. Alain Perrin has been known to have good taste when it comes to DMs and has already put Bayal on the list for this weekend’s Game against Toulouse. He’s hungry and that’s a great thing. The new generation needs to be taking over now!!!

]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/bayal-sall-is-back-for-saint-etienne.html/feed 0 Algeria 3-2 Senegal, the Lions fell in Blida… http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/algeria-3-2-senegal-the-lions-fell-in-blida.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/algeria-3-2-senegal-the-lions-fell-in-blida.html#comments Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:45:39 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/algeria-3-2-senegal-the-lions-fell-in-blida.html So last friday in Blida, Algeria beat us 3-2 and took the lead of Group 6. After a first half where we completely dominated the game, we could have, should have scored at least twice but the facts remain simple: Our strikers were not up to par!
After the first half, we went into it pretty confident we could at least get a draw out of it. After eight minutes, we even managed to score the first goal at the 53rd minute. On a very accurate Ousmane Ndoye cross, Issiar Dia scored his first goal with a Senegal jersey on. After that, we should have kept our heads in the game, but as usual with us, we thought the game was already won and that when the Algerians decided to equalize.

Just a few minutes after the Senegal goal, Bezzaz manages to slalom his way through our defense and humiliates Ibrahima Faye, Ousmane Ndoye and NGuirane Ndaw before crossing towards the net. Surprised, Cheikh Gueye scoored an own goal. It was the 59th minute.

The Fennecs multiply their assaults and our defense basically implodes. Seven minutes after the first Algerian goal, Nadir Belhadji who was essentially working us tirelessly, passes the ball to Bezzaz who heads it further to Rafik Saifi whoheads it inside Tony Sylva’s net.

At a moment where our whole team was in some kind of Limbo, we all seemed clueless as to what to do and how to reorganize. This is when our manifest lack of leadership showed. Nobody on our team was charismatic enough to ring the alarm and make us get back into this game.
On another one of those moments, Anthar Yahya jumlps higher than Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye and makes Tony Sylva pick up the ball in his cages for the third time.
The game is pretty much done with and Coach Saadane replaces Manof the Match Bezzaz with a defender. Lamine Ndiaye replaces our then best player Ousmane Ndoye with Frederic Mendy. We won’t see him again. In extra-time, on a Kader Mangane cross, Modou Sougou scores our second, useless, goal. Too late.



]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/algeria-3-2-senegal-the-lions-fell-in-blida.html/feed 0 Why will the Senegal squad be reduced to only 21 players? http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/why-will-the-senegal-squad-be-reduced-to-only-21-players.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/why-will-the-senegal-squad-be-reduced-to-only-21-players.html#comments Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:24:19 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/why-will-the-senegal-squad-be-reduced-to-only-21-players.html After selecting 22 players for the 5th and 6th match-days of these World Cup qualifiers, Lamine Ndiaye had to face a problem, striker Mbaye Leye was injured during a game and the national coach decided to call Hoffenheim’s Demba Ba but had to face two problems:
1. The germans didn’t know who he is since he never bothered to call them.
2. They had the right to refuse since he didn’t take the mandatory two weeks to notify the club in due time.

So Demba Ba of course couldn’t make it. Ndiaye then turned to Montpellier and Souleymane Camara. And then on wednesday, he let it slip that the player refused before saying yesterday that Souleymane Camara couldn’t come because Rolland Courbis, ex-Marseille player and current Montpellier manager made it understood that if Souleymane Camara came to the match and played against Algeria, he would lose his starting spot.
I believe Lamine Ndiaye said that becausqe he believed his little lie would just go unnoticed. Problem is, Roland Courbis is a fan of the senegalese team and follows it very closely. Just after the press conference and called by some senegalese friends of his, he called some journalists to let it be known that he had nothing to do with Souleymane not coming in for the NT:

“If Senegal calls up Souleymane Camara, there’s nothing we can do about it, we can’t say NO. The player is the only one who can refuse.”

Courbis also encouraged his colleagues to:

“take care of your own problems between you guys and don’t make me say something I haven’t. I’ve always had excellent relations with Senegal and senegalese players. I don’t want that to change.”

So the end result is, we’ll be one striker short for our next two games. And the most prolific we’ve ever had is watching it all on his TV screen.

]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/why-will-the-senegal-squad-be-reduced-to-only-21-players.html/feed 0 Niang left out of the 22 against Algeria… http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/niang-left-out-of-the-22-against-algeria.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/niang-left-out-of-the-22-against-algeria.html#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:45:54 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/niang-left-out-of-the-22-against-algeria.html On friday night in Blida, located about 45 km south-west of Algiers, Senegal will face the Fennecs of Algeria in the first of our second leg matches for the next African Cup of Nations as well as the next World Cup. After the first game against Lybia where we drew one of the worst teams I’ve ever seen play, it was expected to see a lot of players who were obviously not ready to play not called back. But apparently those players are coming back since he hasn’t changed a single player out of the initial lineup. Here are the players Lamine Ndiaye picked.

Goalkeepers :
Tony Mario Sylva (Trabzonsport)
Bouna Coundoul (Colorado Rapids),
Pape Laye Coulibaly (St-Etienne)

Defenders :
Pascal Mendy (Kaunas, Lituanie),
Abdoulaye Diagne Faye (Stoke City),
Pape Malickou Diakhaté (Dynamo Kiev),
Ibrahima Faye (Troyes),
Ibrahima Sonko (Stoke City),
Massamba Lô Sambou (Le Havre),
Cheikh Guèye (Metz)

Midfielders
Kader Mangane (Rennes)
Nguirane Ndaw (Nantes),
Issiar Dia (Nancy)
Ousmane Ndoye (FC Vaslui)
Salif Diao (Stoke City)
Frédéric Mendy (Bastia)

Strikers:
Papa Waigo Ndiaye (Fiotrentina),
Henri Camara (Wigan)
El Hadj Diouf (Sunderland)
Mbaye Lèye (Zulte Waragem),
Babacar Guèye (Metz),
Mamadou Sougou (Academica Coimbra).

You may have noticed the absence of Mamadou Niang. Well Mamadou Niang asked to be left out of the national selection because he was tired. I’ve talked about it before but I was one to believe it was just him wanting to go on vacation and not come in while he could have been on a beach. Apparently, National Coach Lamine Ndiaye felt the same way and called him up anyway. When Mamadou failed to show up, Ndiaye didn’t mention it and as we all know, the man can hold a grudge. Asked a few weeks ago what would happen, he made it clear that the only way for Mamadou Niang to come back to the national team would be to apologize with a letter.
Which Mamadou Niang declared he wouldn’t write, citing some people on the team that get a pass no matter what they do while he’s stigmatized as one of the players who play at 50 60% of their possibilities.
I was kinda over the whole “I’ll come only when it really matters” stance a few players have taken in the past. And I’m happy that it is being reinforced by Lamine Ndiaye so that the national teams becomes competitive again and that some people don’t take their caps lightly. But after the whole ACN debacle, Mamadou Niang seemed genuinely concerned about how our national team was turning into something we would never like to see. We were ridiculed down in Tamalé and some of our most senior players made themselves noticed in the worst possible ways.
I’m not going to remind you but Mamadou Niang was as examplary as one could be even if he hasn’t scored any goals there. And the fact that someone like El Hadji Diouf gets a pass for announcing his retirement, coming back and basically saying he would only speak to the President. Just to be found coming out of a bar while in Ghana the day before our most important this side of the 2002 World Cup.
So maybe it will take us to lose against Algeria or maybe it will take one of these men to swallow his pride (I’m leaning Niang since Lamine Ndiaye has shown many times how irrational he can be) for this to stop. Or maybe we’re looking at Senegal’s own version of David Tréeguet.

]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/niang-left-out-of-the-22-against-algeria.html/feed 0 A day with pape Malickou Diakhaté… http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/a-day-with-pape-malickou-diakhate.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/a-day-with-pape-malickou-diakhate.html#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:25:41 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/a-day-with-pape-malickou-diakhate.html French newspaper L’Equipe also has a television channel. If the channel itself is nothing that impressive, they have one of the best programs on french TV which is called “Un jour avec…” (”A day with…”) which allows us to follow the typical, or not so typical as a matter of fact, day of a footballer playing abroad. This on is cool because it focuses on senegalese defender Pape Malickou Diakhaté who left french side Nancy to go and play the Champions League with Dynamo Kiyv. Diakhaté is followed throughout a typical preparation day in Dakar where he is preparing with the national team for the World Cup qualifiers against Algeria (we ended up winningit, the second leg is this week in Blida).
For any french speaker, or lover of the beautiful game, or just fans, this video is great at showing how the mood was in the team just before the summer break and everything went back to sh*t. Well talk more about that soon. Video after the jump



]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/a-day-with-pape-malickou-diakhate.html/feed 2 Souleymane Diawara could head to Sevilla… http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/souleymane-diawara-could-head-to-sevilla.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/souleymane-diawara-could-head-to-sevilla.html#comments Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:59:18 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/souleymane-diawara-could-head-to-sevilla.html Bordeaux’s senegalese center back Souleymane Diawara started things slow this season before finishing like his team and even being mentionned in some Ligue 1 XI. So much so that he has been apparently contacted by Sevilla staff. The andalousians, who are about to undergo some major changes next season have started to look to France for more players. After the successes of Escudé, Kanouté and more recently Seydou Keïta, the spaniards are hoping glove-sporting Diawara could work.
This deal seems very unlikely though, since the ex-Sochaux player will look forward to playing the Champions League as a key-piece in Laurent Blanc’s system. He also has just signed a contract that goes through 2011. But we never know.

]]> http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/souleymane-diawara-could-head-to-sevilla.html/feed 0 Lamine Ndiaye calls out Raymond Domenech… http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/lamine-ndiaye-calls-out-raymond-domenech.html http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/lamine-ndiaye-calls-out-raymond-domenech.html#comments Sun, 25 May 2008 03:46:19 +0000 Magnusson http://senegal.worldcupblog.org/1/lamine-ndiaye-calls-out-raymond-domenech.html A little background fact, Lamine Ndiaye, Senegalese National Team Manager, used to play with Mulhouse in the french second division with – then for – a player/coach named Raymond Domenech and even succeeded him at the helm of Mulhouse when said Domenech left for Lyon. lamine Ndiaye and Raymond Domenech have known each other for more than 25 years. And they don’t particularly like each other. And this situation doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. Remember how Raymond Domenech decided to change his list from 29 to 30 and called up the young Bafétimbi Gomis to complete his list. Well, the pill is hard to swallow and in Dakar, Ndiaye is multiplying declarations and is not ready to forgive. Some would say he’s even threatening the french coach:

“I know Doemench well and I’m afraid he’s gonna make him play for five minutes before storing him in the attic. When I was playing under him , Raymond never wanted me to come play for the national Team. But since I’m hard headed, I would refuse to follow him and I would come ply anyway.”

According to an interview he gave to a senegalese radio station, Lamine Ndiaye believes that after having waited for a french call-up for years, Gomis seemed set on playing for Senegal and according to his club partner Bayal sall, started to make it known around Saint-Etienne. At nearly 23 and with the eclosion of younger players and/or more accustomed to the french selection than he (Benzema, Benarfa, Briand, Sinama-Pongolle, Saha, etc…) he believed he would never be considered. Which is when Senegal started thinking seriously about him. According to Lamine Ndiaye, his presence in the list is not innocent:

“It’s not for nothing that Raymond Domenech, who had provided a list of 29 players, has finally decided to change it to 30. I’m afraid he only added Bafetimbi Gomis to make sure he would not be joining the Senegalese National Team.”

This story will not be ending soon since the French Federation has supposedly contacted FIFA to make sure that the case of Issiar Dia is sorted out (they could actually just write the consent form, but they won’t, making it nearly impossible for Issiar to play against Algeria). We’ll see what comes next.

I think both sides should calm down. If it goes any further, we should be able to take back Patrick Vieira, Patrice Evra and any one of the Diarras.
Another advice for Lamine Ndiaye, make sure this doesn’t happen with Lamine Sakho of PSG, David Bellion, and countless other young players of senegalese descent.

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