World Cup 2022 - Senegal: Aliou Cissé's regrets

Senegal have made a poor start to the World Cup. The reigning African champions, the Lions were beaten by the Netherlands (2-0), in Group A. It was a bitter defeat for the Senegalese, who put in a reasonably good performance, according to head coach Aliou Cissé. "It was a very high-level match. A tight, balanced game. The score doesn't reflect the way the game went", he said at the post-match press conference. "In this game against the Netherlands, we didn't score. But we had some interesting chances. We'll build on that to try to win the next two games", the Senegal coach added.

The Senegalese coach has reason to feel regret. His forwards lacked a clinical touch. Aliou Cissé lamented the problem, but he intends to put it right in the remaining games. "We're disappointed, the lads gave a lot and we deserved at least a point from this game. Maybe I'm the one to blame because I'm the coach. When you lose, they say it's the coach. Football is about efficiency; when you don't score, you can't win. We're going to work on it. Winning this game would have put us on the right track, in the best way, but that's not the case. Having lost this game can motivate us, not everything was bad, it's up to us to put it right," he said.

To stay alive at this World Cup, Aliou Cissé's men must beat Qatar on Friday 25 November. "The second game, against Qatar, will be very difficult. It's up to us to prepare well and win it before we play Ecuador", the Senegalese coach concluded.