Polokwane - At 40, Senegal coach Aliou Cisse still looks as fit as a fiddle but he has the difficult task of guiding the Lions of Teranga to the World Cup in less than two years’ time.
That job can easily accelerate a growth spurt of grey hair, especially if you are having to find a winning formula with a team as talented as his.
“We have been together for a year now and everyone can see there is great potential,” Cisse said on Friday at the Peter Mokaba Stadium shortly after Senegal’s final training session in preparing to face Bafana Bafana here this afternoon.
“They are maturing together, but it is very difficult to get them to play the way I want them to play.
“Yes, they are scattered throughout Europe and since I took over (in March last year) I have selected a lot of different players to try and make this team more solid.”
Cisse’s men sit top of African Group D qualifying for the 2018 tournament in Russia, which also includes Burkina Faso and Cape Verde, a side they beat 2-0 in Dakar last month in their World Cup qualification opener.
Bafana were away in Ouagadougou and could not hold on to their slender lead, allowing hosts Burkina Faso to grab a point in a 1-1 stalemate.
They are favourites to reach the global showpiece in Russia as outright winners of the group because they pack a punch - Saido Mane (Liverpool), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli), Mame Diouf (Stoke City) and Cheikhou Kouyate (West Ham) - but have nothing to show for it so far as they were below par in last year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) under a different coach and have not qualified for a World Cup since 2002.
Their hopes of ever winning the Afcon faded with their golden generation, one that included striker El Hadji Diouf and Cisse himself as captain, when they only managed to reach the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and finish runners-up in the continental championship earlier that year.
“It is easy to strike a balance for South Africa because most of the players are home-based,” said Cisse, in a remark that could easily be interpreted as looking down on Bafana’s lack of exports.
“But we are trying. We scored 13 goals in qualifying for next year’s Afcon (in Gabon), but those did not come from just our strikers, but the midfielders and some defenders as well.”
Their road to Gabon is one of the reasons they are feared on the continent and are widely expected to run riot in Group D.
Cisse masterminded Sene- gal's 100 percent winning record in qualifying for the Afcon in January, while his South African counterpart - who is over two decades his senior - failed to secure a spot in the continental competition.
Today the two face off with contrasting fortunes over the past year, and the man who walks away victorious will be in pole position for a World Cup qualification, although there is still some way to go.
“It’s important to finish the year on a high,” said Cisse.
“We know 2016 has been a great year for Senegal and I'm extremely happy with the input of my players.
“I've selected a team that I believe will help us beat South Africa.”
Kick-off is at 3pm.
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