Mali coach Tom Saintfiet has insisted that his team is not afraid of Senegal, claiming this team have faced tougher opponents in recent times, Afrosport reports.
Saintfiet suggested that matches against sides like Morocco or Tunisia present a different level of difficulty compared to the 2021 AFCON champions.
The Eagles are yet to win withing 90 minutes in Morocco, drawing all their three group stage games before seeing off Tunisia with 10 men on penalties.
“I think it’s going to be a war. We have already shown against Morocco and Tunisia that we are not afraid,” the Belgian said.
“We also have good players. Our only undoing is not scoring as many goals as we would like, but we are very disciplined when we don’t have the ball.”
Today’s the day!
Mali take on Senegal in the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 quarter-finals. Who wins it? 🇲🇱🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/DnAxOJBMwx
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) January 9, 2026
Senegal boss Pape Thiaw has however responded Saintfiet’s statement saying there can’t be war between the two countries because they are brothers.
