In Côte d'Ivoire in January 2024, Senegal will be putting their African championship title on the line once again. For El Hadj Diouf, former captain of the Lions and current ambassador for the Senegalese national teams, the Lions of Teranga are aiming for the back-to-back."We can't be defending champions and not be favourites. We've got the best team, and my slogan today is back to back. South Africa won the World Cup (rugby, editor's note) and they came back to win it again. That's because they're the best team," declared the two-time African Ballon d'Or winner (2001 and 2002) in an interview with Senegalese media outlet Record.
For Dioufy Fire, the Senegalese players must show the competition that they are not finished in order to stay at the top. "Senegal is the favorite, but there are outsiders like Morocco and Côte d'Ivoire, and there are teams that will emerge from the pack as the competition continues. Now, the African Cup we won in Cameroon was the responsibility of the management, who pulled out all the stops, but the next AFCON will be the responsibility of the players. And it's up to them to show that they're not finished yet.
