Kalidou Koulibaly is happy with the huge support the Senegal national team is receiving from across the African continent despite their opening 2-0 loss by the Netherlands at the ongoing 2022 World Cup.
The Teranga Lions headed to Qatar without talisman Sadio Mane who got injured while playing for his club Bayern Munich. There were doubts on how well the reigning African champions could play without him but they defied expectations by putting in a spirited performance against the Dutch, testing their goalkeeper Andries Noppert on multiple occasions.
The performance drew praise from the African continent and Koulibaly is calling on them to show the same energy in their remaining Group A matches.
“It’s brilliant to have such strong backing,” the Chelsea centre-back told FIFA+.
“We knew that we would have a lot of African fans behind us on account of us being Cup of Nations winners, and by having proved that we’re a good team.
“In fact, I’m calling on all Africans to come together, because that’s how we’re going to move forward. We support all the African teams and I think they support us too. That’s really nice. We heard the fans throughout the match – we’re going to need them for the upcoming games.”
Senegal face Qatar next and Ecuador in their remaining two group games. They must aim for maximum points in both matches to stand a realistic chance of making it into the Round of 16.
