Sadio Mane and Kalidou Koulibaly Named in Senegal’s AFCON 2021 Squad
Senegal Coach, Aliou Cisse named his final Afcon 2021 squad. The squad consists of 27 players, which cut across different leagues in the world, both major and minor.
As expected, the list includes the names of high profile players in the world like Sadio Mane, Liverpool, Edouard Mendy, Chelsea, Kalidou Koulibaly, Napoli, and Idrissa Gueye, PSG.
The list also features the Watford star, Ismaila Sarr as well as Leicester City star, Nampalys Mendy. All the players selected by Cisse for the biennial Africa showpiece play their football abroad. No home-based Senegal player makes it to Afcon 2021.
However, the list includes 17 debutants, to add the freshness of approach to the squad.
The Teranga Lions are hungry to win the CAF Africa nations cup for the first time. They came close to winning it in 2002 and 2019 when they lost to Cameroon and Algeria in the finals respectively.
“I want this Africa Cup of Nations. I have been running after it since 1999,”- Alou Cisse said after unveiling the Senegal squad for Afcon 2021.
They will begin their journey to win an AFCON title for the first time on January 10, 2022, against Zimbabwe. Play Guinea four days later before they battle Malawi on January 18.
Senegal AFCON 2021 full squad
Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy (Chelsea, England), Alfred Gomis (Rennes, France), Sény Dieng (Queens Park Rangers, England)
Defenders: Bouna Sarr (Bayern, Germany), Saliou Ciss (Nancy, France), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli, Italy), Pape Abou Cissé (Olympiacos, Greece), Abdou Diallo (Paris Saint Germain, France), Ibrahima Mbaye (Bologna, Italy), Abdoulaye Seck (Royal Antwerp, Belgium), Fodé Ballo-Touré (Milan, Italy), Cheikhou Kouyaté (Crystal Palace, England)
Midfielders: Pape Matar Sarr (FC Metz, France), Pape Gueye (Marseille, France), Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City, England), Idrissa Gana Gueye (Paris Saint Germain, France), Moustapha Name (Paris FC, France), Mamadou Loum Ndiaye (Deportivo Alaves, Spain), Joseph Lopy (Sochaux, France)
Forwards: Sadio Mané (Liverpool, England), Ismaila Sarr (Watford, England), Bamba Dieng (Marseille, France), Keita Baldé (Cagliari, Italy), Habib Diallo (Strasbourg, France), Boulaye Dia (Villareal, Spain), Famara Diédhiou (Alanyaspor, Turkey), Mame Baba Thiam (Kayserispor, Turkey)
