July 2001 Sport News Headlines

Thursday, July 19, 2001 - Web posted at 13:48:01 GMT

Senegal on a mission
HELGE SCHUTZ

SENEGAL'S star-studded national soccer team arrived in Windhoek on a chartered flight at 03h00 yesterday morning for the most important match of their lives.

If they beat Namibia by at least four goals on Saturday and if Egypt don't beat Algeria by more than one goal, Senegal will qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time in its history.

The team is taking the match very seriously and according to star midfielder Khalilou Fadiga they will be going all out to score as many goals as possible against the Brave Warriors.

"We will try our best and hopefully we can score many goals like our last match against Namibia, when we won 4-0," he said.

Fadiga said they would attack from the start, but that they were not masters of their own fate, since Egypt's match would also determine the outcome.

He said there was huge pressure from the Senegalese nation on them to qualify for the World Cup, but that this would not affect them.

"There is a lot of pressure and we hope to go to the World Cup, but we will keep our heads down and not let it affect us," he said.

Their coach Bruno Metsu said they had recuperated after their long flight yesterday morning, while yesterday afternoon's training session was just a warm-up to get used to the conditions.

"I didn't think it would be so cold here, but at least we have three days to get used to it. The altitude might also be a problem, but hopefully my players will adapt in time," he said.

Metsu added that two of his players were slightly injured during yesterday's training session but that it wasn't serious and that they would be ready for Saturday's match.

Senegal's whole squad consists of foreign-based players, most of whom play in France.

The starting line-up is expected to be as follows:Tony Sylva (Monaco), Omar Daf (Sochaux), Aliou Cisse - captain (Paris Saint Germain), Lamine Diatta (Lens), Salif Diao (Sedan), Moussa Ndiaye (Sedan), Khalilou Fadiga (Auxerre), El Hadj Diouf (Lens), Henri Camara (Neuchatel).

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