The replacement of Africa Cup winner Senegal for the World Cup match with the Dutch national team was almost exclusively about Sadio Mané. The star player misses the final round due to an injury sustained at Bayern Munich.

“He is of great value to us,” said national coach Aliou Cissé. “We will certainly miss him against the Netherlands. But we have played without him before. We have a team with many experienced players, supplemented with young talent. We are ready to take on the challenge.”

Senegal also participated in the global finals in 2002 and 2018. Then it always booked a victory in the first game, against familiar France (1-0) and Poland (2-1).

“It is extremely important to start well”, says experience expert Cissé, who as a player declared part of the Senegalese selection in 2002. “The experience we have and our status in Africa gives us a lot of confidence.”

Senegal failed in the quarterfinals at the 2002 World Cup. Four years ago, also led by Cissé, the team in Russia just failed to improve the group stage.

“We must not repeat the mistakes we made during the last World Cup. African football has undergone enormous development. Many of our players play in the major European leagues. The differences have become smaller.”

Cissé obviously knows the strength of Orange and has a lot of respect for colleague Louis van Gaal. “I don’t think I need to introduce him here anymore. He has a great track record. An example for the whole world. We know we have a good team against us.”