A street scene in Dakar. Below a mural of Sadio Mane sits a man on a bench. His head is resting on his chest as if weighed by a world of trouble. Before him is what looks like an old, battered transportation vehicle. You would hesitate to call it a bus. The picture appeared in the New York Times to illustrate a piece on the deeply impressive Senegal coach Aliou Cisse. It depicts a city and a country removed in so many ways from the European experience. It could have been any number of places in a vast, impoverished, under-valued continent.
Mane’s decorative profile is a symbol of the pride taken in the national team, affectionately known as the Lions of Teranga. The celebrations in the Senegalese capital following the victory over Ecuador that thrust them in England’s path provided a moment of release from conditions that damn the neglect of those in power, and the global community, a rare note of positivity around which the people might coalesce.
At the heart of this uplifting tale stands Cisse, a coach emerging as one of the most significant figures at this World Cup, and certainly the coolest. Cisse speaks not only to the people of Senegal but to the whole of Africa, pushing for change and driving awareness of the discrepancy between the contribution of African players to the world game and their representation at Qatar 2022. Only five spots for 54 African nations compared to 13 from Europe’s 55 federations.
Cisse points out that Mane, missing here with injury, Monday’s match-winner Kalidou Koulibaly and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy are among the best in the world. The prominent leagues in Europe are awash with talent from across Africa. At Qatar 2022, Thomas Partey and Ajax supernova Mohamed Kudus have been prominent for Ghana. Cameroon’s Andre-Frank Anguissa has been one of the stars of the Napoli resurrection. PSG full-back Achraf Hakimi is arguably the world’s pre-eminent right-back in the colours of Morocco. Tunisia’s influential midfielder Ellyes Skhiri is one of the poster boys of the Bundesliga with Cologne.
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“I could give you the names of 10 teams that would all be able to represent Africa, and that top five is better than the bottom five of European teams. Think Senegal, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, South Africa,” Cisse told the American publication. “I don’t know, but we can’t keep going with a continent like Africa that represents so much for global soccer and only has five spots. We exist. We have great players. We have contributed to the development of soccer. We should be able to play our part. Give us the possibility to exist, and we’ll have more chances to go to the semis, the final, and to win.”
Senegal is a West African hotbed for whom football has become a key part of the national identity, a process to which none has contributed more than the former midfield enforcer at Birmingham and Portsmouth, who was sent off on his Premier League debut at Arsenal. Cisse was skipper of the breakout team that reached their first African Cup of Nations final in 2002 and progressed to the World Cup quarter-final on debut later that summer. It was that projection that led to his purchase by Birmingham City.
Cisse was appointed coach of Senegal seven years ago to the surprise of many. “People were asking: ‘Why are you giving him the team? He has no experience.’ But I knew the expectations and the reality. I was captain of this team. Then I got my coaching diplomas. Then you need to build a team, a group, with motivated, patriotic players, who don’t fake it when it comes to bringing joy to their country. With years, you become more confident in what you do, and you learn how to manage the more uncertain moments.”
We saw how Cisse and his team harnessed the sense of mission and togetherness against Ecuador, a huge part of which was the memory of Bouba Diop, who scored the goal that beat defending champions France in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup and who died prematurely two years ago at just 42. Cisse is also carrying the grief associated with one of Africa’s most tragic events, the sinking of the MV Le Joola, a popular ferry connecting cities along the Senegal coast that capsized 20 years ago with the loss of 1,863 people.
Cisse had ridden that ferry many times. It was licensed to carry only 500 people. As ever with poor nations, essential services were lethally compromised. The boat was laden with too many cars and too many people, all in a desperate need to meet the routine demands of chaotic lives. Only 64 survived. Among the victims were 11 relatives of Cisse, including his sister. Their memory informs his work with the national team, a reminder of how much more needs to be done to accelerate the modernisation of Africa and release the potential of its people.
To help raise awareness Cisse spoke for the first time about the ordeal, which happened shortly after his arrival at Birmingham, to the BBC ahead of the World Cup. “The tragedy is not only personal, it is collective. There were all layers of Senegalese society on that boat. Everyone in the city of Ziguinchor [his home town], had one, two, or even 10 family members, who were left in that shipwreck.” Incredibly Cisse completed an impending fixture for Birmingham before informing the club of the tragedy and returning home to support his grieving family.
On his return to the team as coach, Cisse made it his a goal to professionalise the set-up. He insisted that the federation upgrade the national team in a way commensurate with the experience of the exports at Europe’s top clubs. The cohort of players spread across foreign leagues are expected to report for duty in Dakar on time and on the same day. In return they get to fly to tournaments by private jet, stay in first-class hotels and train at the best facilities.
In 2019 Cisse led Senegal to a second Afcon final. Earlier this year he guided Senegal to their first Afcon success. Now they are in the last 16 of the World Cup. No African team has progressed beyond the quarter-finals. Victory over England, one of the world’s richest federations, would be one of Senegal’s most important since the toppling of France two decades ago. England are facing more than 11 players, more than a team at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday, they are taking on a squad propelled by the breath of 17 million souls desperate to have their voices heard.
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