YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA ¨C Senegal coach Aliou Cisse criticized his team for letting Japan equalize twice in their World Cup Group H match on Sunday and said he expected more from central defenders Kalidou Koulibaly and Salif Sane.
In an exciting but error-strewn 2-2 draw, the Africans went ahead through Sadio Mane and dominated for much of the first half until Takashi Inui replied with a curling shot for Japan. After the break, though, Japan did most of the attacking.
¡°Of course there are regrets but we must say we didn¡¯t see a great Senegal team tonight compared to the previous match against Poland,¡± Cisse said.
¡°Despite the fact we were leading twice, what is annoying for me is the two goals we conceded,¡± he added, accusing his players of lacking rigor and concentration.
¡°All I know is at this level of competition with the players we have today, who are world-class, these were avoidable goals. That is crystal clear.¡±
Though he did not elaborate on the lapses, the comment was particularly true of the Keisuke Honda tap-in that made it 2-2, after full back Moussa Wague had put Senegal ahead for the second time.
¡°The best team on the pitch was Japan, we have to admit,¡± said Cisse, who as captain led Senegal to the quarterfinals in 2002. ¡°We were getting the ball and then we were losing it . . . I thought there were a lot of technical errors, too many.¡±
Nor did he hold back from shining a light on the less than top-drawer performances of his key players.
Mane was more impressive than in the 2-1 win against Poland, but Cisse said: ¡°Yes, of course he can do better.¡±
He also expressed worry about the degree to which Japanese striker Yuya Osako was able to put pressure on his defense.
¡°Whether it¡¯s Sane or Koulibaly, they¡¯re great players. I think they were perhaps less good today,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re going to work on that. Koulibaly needs to show his qualities, and Sane the same.¡±
Senegal, which remains tied with Japan at the top of the group with four points, faces Colombia on Thursday and still has an excellent chance of reaching the last 16.
¡°It¡¯s important to have that point and we have a decisive game coming up,¡± Mane said. ¡°We¡¯re going to try and manage this and extract the positives, in order to qualify for the last 16.¡±
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