ACTUALITE |
21.06.2002
Senegal warning for Turkey
Senegal coach Bruno Metsu has warned Turkey not to assume that their passage to the semi-finals is a foregone conclusion.
Turkey coach Senol Gunes has irritated Metsu by talking about the possibility of facing England or Brazil before the quarter-final against Senegal.
"We have watched the Turks on video. They are a very, very good team and judging by the comments of the coach they are very sure of themselves," said Metsu.
"They aren`t even talking about the quarter-final match against Senegal.
"They are already talking about the outcome of the Brazil-England game. They clearly have great confidence.
"It`s not very nice. It`s not so much over-confidence, they have been denigrating us.
"All the great football nations have recognised that Senegal are a good team, that we are not here by chance and we deserve our place in the quarter-finals."
Senegal striker El Hadji Diouf is bracing himself for a battle after statistics showed he is the World Cup`s most marked man.
According to the Opta Index, which provides similar information on English football, the Liverpool-bound player has been fouled 21 times.
And Diouf can fully expect an even rougher ride against Turkey, who battered Japan into submission in their second-round game.
He will be up against Aston Villa defender Alpay, who was lucky not be red-carded against Japan after a series of late challenges.
And Senegal midfielder Salif Diao - himself not one to shirk a tackle, having just served a two-match ban for a red card against Denmark - admitted the match would be a battle.
"We were so surprised by Turkey," said Diao.
"They impressed us the way they played against Japan and we know we will have to be at 100% to beat them."
Turkey`s strikers will have a hard job contending with the tenacity of Omar Daf, Senegal`s left-back.
With 31 tackles, he tops the table of defenders in the tournament.
This is quite a change from Cameroon`s approach 12 years ago, when they had two sent off in their opening game against Argentina.
And Diao said it showed a change in attitude in the way African countries were playing the game.
"People thought of African football 10 years ago and thought we didn`t care. We want to show that it`s more disciplined now," he added.
"We are not just playing for Senegal, we are playing for Africa."
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