Senegal sports minister Matar Ba has lauded the Terenga Lions coach and legend Aliou Cisse, claiming he is the best coach at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Cisse took charge of the West African side in March 2015 and helped the team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where they were narrowly eliminated in the Group stage.
The Terenga Lions eased into the Afcon finals without a defeat, winning five of their six games and drawing once to emerge the Group A winners.
Those fine performances saw them ranked as the best African side, and are 22nd on the most recent Fifa rankings.
Hence, Ba has no doubt of the competency of the former Lille and Paris Saint-Germain defender.
“There is a lot of pressure as a coach but the pressure is good, it is positive. When you take responsibilities, you have to accept them since it is not given to everyone,” Ba told the media.
“We cannot say that Aliou Cisse is not up to the task, until proven otherwise, I think he’s the best coach. If today, the national team of Senegal occupies the 22nd place in the new ranking of Fifa, he played a role.”
On Sunday, Senegal continued with their preparation for the biennial tournament by handing three-time African champions Nigeria a 1-0 defeat in Ismailia.
The Terenga Lions will hope to surpass their last performance in the competition, where they bowed out in the quarter-final stage.
They have been paired along with Kenya, Algeria and Tanzania in Group C and will play their first game against the Taifa Stars on June 23.
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