On the sidelines of the 2022 World Cup: There is a strange Senegal team

Up to now, Senegal has been present at the biggest football festival on the planet 3 times and only at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, they failed to qualify. Senegal is currently ranked 18th in the latest FIFA rankings. Coach Aliou Cisse's team has many experienced stars such as goalkeeper Mendy, Koulibaly or Ismaila Sarr. However, their brightest star Sadio Mane missed the World Cup due to injury, which is a pity.

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Senegal, the African champion, has officially entered the 2022 World Cup round of 16 as the second place in Group A. Photo: CNN

Senegal is an African country with an area of ​​about 197,000 square meters.²and a population of about 16 million people. This is one of the poorest countries in the world with a GDP per capita of only 1,558 USD, ranked 157th in the world, poorer than Cambodia, a total national GDP of only 27.5 billion USD, public debt up to 73% of GDP, inflation of 13% per year...

But when it comes to football, one cannot forget Senegal, the reigning African champion. In the past, they defeated reigning champion France in the 2002 World Cup and were the first Asian and African team to qualify for the second round of the 2022 World Cup this year. The strange thing is that Senegal's professional football is not very developed, the minimum salary of a player in Senegal League 1 is only about 100 USD/month, 1,200 USD/year. The salary of Sadio Mane, the Senegal national team striker who is playing for Liverpool FC, is 19.8 million EURO/year, 16,500 times higher than the salary of a Senegalese player playing domestically. It can be added that Gueye's annual salary at PSG is 7.8 million EURO, Koulibaly at Chelsea is 18 million EURO, Diallo at PSG is 5.5 million EURO, and Mendy at Chelsea is 3.1 million EURO year, which is very high. This has made young players more determined to go abroad to play following the example of their seniors.

Senegalese players try to play well in Senegal League 1 and the African Championship to catch the eye of European scouts in the hope of changing their lives. With good physical foundation and natural talent, they only need to practice hard under the guidance of a professional coach to develop their "shorts and jersey" career well.

Coach Aliou Cisse is a Senegalese football legend both as a player and coach. Photo: AP

It is no coincidence that Senegal has 10 players with a valuation of over 10 million euros and 52 players with a valuation of over 1 million euros. Almost the entire Senegal national team is currently playing in Europe, including the world's top clubs such as PSG, Marseille, Monaco, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, Everton, Leicester, Watford, Vilareal, Real Betis, Olympiakos, ...

National pride

The World Cup championship bonus for the Senegal national team is only about 35,000 USD, simply because the budget of the National Football Federation of this country is very small. Much lower than the 30 million USD bonus if Brazil won the 2002 World Cup. But the Senegalese people have the right to be proud of the "football genes" of the players of this African country. The Senegal football team has achieved greater achievements than the great powers of China, India, and Canada.

In the round of 16, they will meet the US team and if they continue to win, it will not be too surprising because coach Aliou Cisse is a legend of Senegalese football both as a player and a coach. This 2022 World Cup is also a good opportunity for many Senegalese players to find a new home.