Reaching the global football showpiece remains the National Elephants’ ambition and the Frenchman is aware that mission won’t be easy
Guinea head coach Didier Six has stated qualifying for the Fifa World Cup is the mission of the West African country.
Since the birth of the National Elephants, they have failed to qualify for the quadrennial football showpiece.
Nonetheless, Guinea would be hoping to qualify for Qatar 2020, but they must negotiate their way past Morocco, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau in Group I of the second round of qualifiers.
While revealing that all stakeholders in the country are looking forward to seeing the 1976 Africa Cup of Nations’ runners-up break the age-long jinx as stated in his contract, he admitted that the task would not be easy.
“Qualifying for the World Cup is the dream of all Guineans, be it the fans, the players or the president of the football federation,” Six told Fifa website.
“When I accepted the job, he put reaching Qatar 2022 as a clause in my contract. That said, we’ll face strong opposition in our group and our task won’t be easy, especially now that even the continent’s lesser lights have developed and are no longer soft touches.”
When asked if any African team can reach the latter stages at Qatar 2022, the veteran tactician claimed that is not a near-impossible task.
“Why not? There’s a lot of potential in Africa and there’s been a major transformation in terms of mentality,” he continued.
“In addition, there are so many African players based in Europe now. Algeria have an excellent squad, the same goes for Morocco, and we can’t forget about Egypt either.
“Now, they all must get over the idea that an African team can’t go beyond the quarter-finals, which Ghana most recently reached.
“There are many good teams such as Cote d’Ivoire, which were previously very strong but are now in the process of rebuilding.”
The 66-year-old also suggested what Guinean players must do to be more represented in European leagues like their counterparts across Africa.
“We all know that Guinean players are technically very skilled, and things in Guinea are slowly getting better,” he added.
“When the national team gets good results, players get attention from overseas. There are also clubs that have come a long way, such as Hafia and Horoya Conakry.
“People here play in their neighbourhoods and sometimes I see them playing in the street as I drive by.
“I’ll often be captivated and wait to see a shot or the end of a move. Guineans are very passionate about football.”
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