Aliou Cissé gave his list to the press this Friday for the match against Fennecs on September 12. The latter includes five team executives who play in Saudi Arabia.
In the past, the Senegalese coach has admitted having ruled out using players playing in the Saudi championship, because of the low quality of the teams compared to the European championships for example.
These remarks corresponded to “a context. The data has changed. When I see the matches (of the Saudi championship), I am rather reassured”, he explained.
The recruitment of world-class players “in Saudi Arabia, it does not only concern” players from “Senegal but the world of football. The Saudi championship (of) five, six or seven years ago is (no longer) the same” as today, he added.
In addition to Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr), the list of 25 names of the outgoing African champion includes four other executives playing in the Saudi championship: goalkeeper Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahli), defenders Kalidou Koulibaly (Al-Hilal) and Abdou Diallo (Al-Arabi) and striker Habib Diallo (Al-Shabab). All played in Europe last season.
Senegal, already qualified for the CAN 2023 scheduled in Côte d’Ivoire, will host Algeria on September 12 at the Diamniadio stadium, in the suburbs of Dakar.
