Senegal Under-20 manager Malick Daf has lauded the efforts of tournament hosts Egypt, despite their early exit from the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations after a 4-0 to the Young Teranga Lions on Saturday.
A hat-trick from Pape Demba Diop and a well-taken strike from Ibou Sane were enough to send the West African’s through to the quarterfinals as Group A leaders ahead of the Flying Eagles of Nigeria.
Although the score line says otherwise, Daf acknowledged that it was not an easy task facing the hosts.
“We were subjected to many pressures, but we succeeded in getting rid of them and achieved an important victory,” Daf said on the CAF website.
“The Egyptian national team played a good match but we succeeded in reaching our goal and won.
“We faced the Egyptian national team, which succeeded in defeating us in the past, but this is part of the past and we are now in the present, and football is advancing.
“Egypt is the host country and has very good elements, and facing them was not easy.
“We play as a group, but I preferred to remove players who have yellow cards for fear of taking risks.
“I see that the Egyptian national team is a very good team, but this is football because no one keeps winning always.”
⚽️ 🆚 🇲🇿
⚽️⚽️⚽️ 🆚 🇪🇬No player has scored more goals in the 2023 #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 than Pape Demba Dioup 🔥 @Fsfofficielle pic.twitter.com/93hf8Sht0d
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 (@CAF_Online) February 25, 2023
Hat-trick hero Diop won the Man of the match award and stated his team have set sights on reaching the Under-20 FIFA World Cup in Indonesia later in the year.
“We achieved victory, and our focus is now focused on the next match,” Diop said.
“When you make an effort, you reach your goal, and now we are very focused on reaching the World Cup.”
Senegal will now prepare to face whoever finishes third in Group C with a tight battle brewing Benin, Tunisia and Zambia.
