Aliou Cisse – Head Coach of the Teranga Lions of Senegal is a proud coach after leading his side to the finals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
This is the second time Senegal is making it into the finals of the competition, after the maiden one in 2002, in which Cisse was a player.
He has now made history as the only coach to have played in the finals as player and now as a coach.
Senegal recorded a lone goal victory over Tunisia in the semi-final game at the 30th June Stadium on Sunday night, to book their tickets to the finals, though it was without drama.
But on a historic note, Cisse becomes the coach to have played in the finals of the competition, when he was part of the “Golden Generation” of Senegal that qualified to the World Cup in 2002, finished in the quarter finals.
Not just that, Cisse was part of the generation that, played in the finals of the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Mali and lost to Cameroon on penalties in the finals and he was one of the players who missed a penalty, after Douf missed his.
Cisse has displayed a lot of tactical and technical brilliance and it was no surprise his star-studded side made it into the finals of the competition.
I am proud to be living this moment, I played in the final in 2002 as a player and now I am here as a coach.
“I feel honored to achieve this history with this amazing team because we have not qualified for 17 years. This was a great match and I think it would be put in the history of football,” he stated.
According to Cisse he would be looking forward to re-write history and make his nation proud by winning the competition.
“It would not come easy but we would fight for the ultimate and make history by winning the competition”.
For Cisse, it would be a great moment for him to be the only coach to have taken his country to the AFCON and won.
The world awaits the historic moment.
