Cape Town - As the COSAFA Cup begins in South Africa on Tuesday, IOL Sport profiles each team in the competition.
Senegal - last year's silver medallists
Senegalese Football Federation
President: Augustin Senghor
Website: www.fsfoot.sn
Established: 1960
Affiliated to FIFA: 1964
Affiliated to CAF: 1964
Honours: 2021 Africa Cup of Nations winners; 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991,
2001 Amilcar Cabral Cup winners; 2019 West African Cup of Nations winners
Brief history:
Senegal are regarded as among the powerhouses in Africa and currently ranked as the top team on the continent after lifting the Africa Cup of Nations title for the first time in Cameroon earlier this year.
They are also two-time runners-up in Africa’s top international competition having also picked up silver in 2002 when current coach Aliou Cisse was a stalwart of the side. On that occasion, they lost out to Cameroon as Cisse missed a penalty in the shoot-out.
after the final finished 0-0, though he was not the only one of the Teranga Lions to do so.
They also ended up with silver in 2019 when they were beaten by Algeria in the decider. They appeared at the 2021 COSAFA Cup when a squad of home-based players reached the final, only to lose on penalties to hosts South Africa.
They become the first guest nation to appear in two tournaments in a row and will be desperate to turn silver into gold.
Senegal have made two previous World Cup appearances, in 2002 and 2018. In the first of those, they shocked the world by reaching the quarterfinals in Japan and South Korea but lost in extra time to Turkey.
They returned to the finals again in Russia in 2018, but this time disappointed when they might have been expected to at least repeat that feat.
They took four points in a pool that also included Colombia, Japan and Poland, but missed out on the next round after they and the Japanese had to be separated by Fair Play points having managed identical records in the group stage.
Senegal are the current champions of the WAFU Cup, the West African version of the COSAFA Cup after they beat Ghana on penalties in the last competition played in 2019.
They were also losing finalists in 2010 (to Nigeria) and 2013 (to Ghana), so will have been relieved to break their duck in a tournament they hosted.
COSAFA Cup record, tournament finishes:
2021 – Runners-Up
Record of results (P W D L F A)
Home 0 0 0 0 0 0
Away 6 3 2 1 6 4
Total 6 3 2 1 6 4
Last COSAFA Cup results and scorers:
7-7-21 Gqeberha: NAMIBIA, Group Stage, 1-2 Diene
9-7-21 Gqeberha: MOZAMBIQUE, Group Stage, 1-0 Djitte
13-7-21 Gqeberha: ZIMBABWE, Group Stage, 2-0 Ndoye, Ba
14-7-21 Gqeberha: MALAWI, Group Stage, 2-1 Diop 2
16-7-21 Gqeberha: ESWATINI, Semi-finals 0-0
18-7-21 Gqeberha: SOUTH AFRICA, Final 0-0 (lost on penalties)
Goalscorers:
2 goals – Diop
1 – Diene, Djitte, Ndoye, Ba
Match records and sequences:
Biggest win: 2-1 vs Zimbabwe (2021); 2-1 vs Malawi (2021)
Heaviest defeat: 1-2 vs Namibia (2021)
Biggest away win: 2-1 vs Zimbabwe (2021); 2-1 vs Malawi (2021)
Heaviest away defeat: 1-2 vs Namibia (2021)
Highest scoring match: 1-2 vs Namibia (2021); 2-1 vs Zimbabwe (2021); 2-1 vs Malawi
(2021)
Longest winning run: 3 games (from 09-07-21 to 14-07-21)
Longest losing run: 1 game (07-07-21)
Longest unbeaten run: 5 games (from 09-07-21 to 18-07-21)
Longest run without a win: 2 games (from 16-07-21 to 18-07-21)
Total clean sheets: 3 matches (50.0%)
Total failed to score: 2 matches (33.3%)
Clean sheets away: 3 matches (50.0%)
Failed to score away: 3 matches (50.0%)
IOL Sport