Senegal is coming off a 2023 season in which it won the senior, cadet and junior AFCONs, as well as the CHAN. What all these teams have in common is that their backbone is made up of players trained mainly in training centers or other academies. The bulk of the squad is trained at Génération Foot and Diambars.
Amara Diouf, the latest prodigy to emerge from Génération Foot.
This specificity has been a feature of Senegalese soccer for some time now. Especially since qualifying for the 2012 Olympic Games. After that, qualification for youth competitions became a regular occurrence with positive results, and many even speak of Senegalese know-how at this level. After a long period in the wilderness.
Going back to the 2012 Olympics, the players with the greatest impact - Sadio Mané, Kara Mbodj, Saliou Ciss, Pape Ndiaye Souaré, Gana Guèye and Ousmane Mané - were pure products of the Diambars and Génération Foot (GF) centers, and had already succeeded in being recruited in Europe. It was after this episode that the Senegalese rush to the Premier League began.
To name just a few of the national team's star players who have emerged from the centers and gone on to make their mark at the highest level, there's Moussa Wagué (Aspire), Dion Lopy (Oslo), Lamine Camara (GF) and, most recently, one of the world's most precocious footballing phenomena, Amara Diouf (GF).
Promising youngsters from training centers
There's every reason to hope that we'll have some good youngsters to fill the boots of the A team, with the players who made up our recently victorious youth teams.Even more so, if they manage to secure contracts with European clubs to complete their training or play at the top level. In this respect, GF has managed to place 3 junior champions at Metz.
So, in Senegalese soccer, especially in the local league, which is beset by a host of problems: wages, substandard stadiums, impassable pitches - all of which account for repeated failures in club competitions - there is a silver lining in the form of training centers, in particular Diambars and GF, to which the various national teams owe a debt of gratitude.
Local soccer has never been in better shape than since their arrival, and in all categories. Their results in the junior categories and their consistency have played a big part in their arrival. Génération Foot continues to improve its performances, with leading players in all selections: Sadio Mané in senior football, Lamine Camara in junior football and Amara Diouf in cadet football at the last CHAN.Promotions come and go, but quality remains.From Dino Djiba and Babacar Guèye to this year's 22 players, the work has been colossal.Diambars, too, even if it has stagnated in recent years, like GF, is a major supplier to our national teams. Its players range from Gana Guèye, the class of the 2012 Olympics, to Mikael Ngor Faye, bought by Barca for 5 million euros, and Aliou Baldé, who has joined Nice, to Pape Demba Diop, Senegal's best player at the CAN U20.
Other centers in ambush
Other centers were subsequently set up, but without the infrastructure and know-how, they logically failed to supply as many players, but still managed to produce some excellent footballers. Their names are Dakar Sacré Cœur, Oslo (Krépin), Darou Salam (Dion Lopy, Mamadou Lamine Camara).
Proportion of players from centers and Diambars and GF in the various selections
Selections A
The A team boasts one of the best squads in Africa. The team that won the CAF Africa Cup of Nations included a large number of players trained by soccer centers and academies.Saliou Ciss, Mamadou Loum Ndiaye, Idrissa Gana Guèye, Joseph Lopy, Sadio Mané, Ismaila Sarr, Bamba Dieng, Famara Diédhiou, Habib Diallo, Ibrahima Mbaye, Pape Matar Sarr. There are 11 of them, or 39%. Of these 11, 8 are pure products of the centers of Mady Touré and Saër Seck, presidents of GF and Diambars respectively. Then there are the small number from local clubs (18%): Alioune Badara Faty, Cheikhou Kouyaté who left early, Moustapha Name, Pape Abdou Cissé, Abdoulaye Seck, (5).
Finally, there's the legion of dual nationals who make up 42% of this team: Kalidou Koulibaly, Bouna Sarr, Abdou Diallo, Fodé Ballo Touré, Nampalys Mendy, Pape Gueye, Boulaye Dia, Keita Balde, Mame Baba Thiam (who left early for Italy), Edouard Mendy, Alfred Gomis, Seny Dieng (12). Not a single player has come through the ranks in the local league other than Abdoulaye Seck and Alioune Badara Faty to say that the local league is therefore not what earns us our results.
🏆 CAN 2022
🏆 CAN BEACH-SOCCER
🏆 CHAN 2023
🏆 CAN U20
🏆 CAN U17Le Sénégal détient l’Afrique depuis 1 an. 🇸🇳🤯 pic.twitter.com/lr2xANJI7e
— 🏆 Actu Foot Afrique (@ActuFootAfrique) May 19, 2023
Academy players in the Junior team winning the AFCON in their category
For the junior team that won the CAN in its category, 14/26, equivalent to a percentage of 54%, were academy players. And of these 14, 9 are players from the 2 centers, i.e. 34%.
Players from training centers
Mamour Ndiaye (Oslo), Amadou Zikrou Diop (Génération Foot), Souleymane Basse (Génération Foot), Mbaye Ndiaye (DSC), Lamine Camara (Génération Foot), Djibril Diarra (Génération Foot),Pape Demba Diop (Zulte Waregem) Samba Diallo (Dynamo Kiev) Mame Mor Faye (Darou Salam), Ibou Sané(Génération Foot), Papa Diallo( Génération Foot) Lamine Camara ( Berkane), Sadibou Sané (Génération Foot), Mouhamed Gueye (Diambars).
Players in traditional clubs
Landing Baldé (As Pikine), Alioune Niang (Linguère) Seydou Sané (Us Gorée), Babacar Ndiaye (As Douanes); Mohamed Guèye (Us Gorée), Ibrahima Cissokho (Us Gorée), Souleymane Faye( FC Talavera expatriate), Ibrahima Seck( Us Gorée), Mame Libassse Ngom ( Guédiawaye Fc), Mamadou Gningue ( DSFA), Abdou Salam Ndoye ( Espoirs G), Mapenda Mbow ( Espoirs G) . They are 12/26.
Senegal U17 team African champions
For the AFCON-winning U17s, the domination of centers is even greater. Indeed, 20 of the 27 (74%) called up were members of a center. 12 were from the two centers (44%).
Serigne Diouf (Génération Foot, Senegal), Cheikh Bamba Fall,(Diambars FC, Senegal), Macoura Mboup (Génération Foot, Senegal), Mamadou Aliou Diallo (Diambars FC, Senegal), Modou Makhafouz Sène (Diambars FC), Lassana Traoré (Diambars FC), Ibrahima Diallo (Génération Foot), Guy Félix Lima (Afat Thiès, Senegal), Ibrahima Sory Sow (Génération Foot), Fallou Fall (Dakar Sacré-Cœur, Senegal) Ibrahima Gueye(Diambars FC), Joseph Namatane (Génération Foot), Pierre Antoine Diatta Dorikal (Dakar Sacré-Cœur)
Mamadou Savane (Afat Thiès), Yaya Diémé (Diambars FC), Omar Sall (Environnement Foot, Senegal), Mamadou Lamine Sadio (Environnement Foot), Mame Mody Sy (Dakar Sacré-Cœur), Kalfara Camara (Génération Foot). This selection is dominated by players from Génération Foot and Diambars, while other centers such as Environnement Foot, Dakar Sacré-Cœur and Afat Thiès each have 2 players.
Club players in the U17 squad
Chérif Kebab Niabaly (Océan FC), Abdou Salam Konaté (Parma, Italy), Abdou Aziz Fall (Keur Madior FC, Senegal), Serigne Fallou Diouf (Sahel Atlantic), Pape Alioune Ndiaye (Espoirs Guédiawaye, Senegal), Mamadou Lamine Bandia (Amitié FC, Senegal). There are 6 players.
African Nations Championship (CHAN) team
In this team of 23 players, 10 played for clubs with training centers or academies, including 7 from Diambars and GF (30%). Only in this selection were club players more numerous. There were 13 club players, compared with 10 academy players.
Local club players
Alioune Badara Faty (Casa Sports), Moutarou Baldé (Teungueth FC), Cheikh Tidiane Sidibé (Teungueth FC), Ablaye Diédhiou (Casa Sports), Moussa Sogue (Amitié FC), Ousmane Diouf (Teungueth FC), Mélo Ndiaye (Jaraaf), Ousmane Marouf Kane (AS Douanes), Libasse Ngom (Guédiawaye FC), Moussa Ndiaye (Jaraaf), Raymond Diémé Ndour (Casa Sports), Cheikh Ibra Diouf (Guédiawaye FC), Serigne Moctar Koité (Teungueth FC).(56%)
Those trained at the centers
Pape Abdoulaye Dieng (Dakar Sacré-Cœur), Pape Mamadou Sy (Génération Foot), Mamadou Sané (Génération Foot), Cheikh Oumar Ndiaye (Génération Foot), Djibril Diarra (Génération Foot), Lamine Camara (Génération Foot), Elimane Cissé (Diambars), Moussa Kanté (Dakar Sacré-Cœur), Papa Amadou Diallo (Génération Foot), Malick Mbaye (Génération Foot). (44%)
Finally, the impact of the centers and academies is not fully known. Many players from local clubs may have been trained in centers before joining their clubs. All this to say that the study may not reveal the true extent of the centers' impact on our soccer.
1 month ago, Lamine Camara won the CHAN and was voted best young player of the competition. Now he's won the CAN U20 as the competition's best player.
Il y a 1 mois, Lamine Camara a gagné le CHAN et a été élu meilleur jeune de la compétition. Aujourd’hui il remporte la CAN U20 en étant le meilleur joueur de la compétition.
Maintenant, rendez-vous en Ligue 2 avec son nouveau club, le FC Metz ! 🇸🇳💎 pic.twitter.com/vjfRAejXY5
— 🏆 Actu Foot Afrique (@ActuFootAfrique) March 11, 2023
