Should England and Senegal drag one another to the familiar realm of penalties on Sunday, whichever unlucky soul should end up the villain will not be short on sympathy from either dugout.
For Gareth Southgate and Euro ’96, read Aliou Cisse and the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations; for Wembley, Mali’s Stade du 26 Mars. Different times and places, but the same guilt and heartache, both men missing crucial spot-kicks that proved terminal to their countries’ hopes of being crowned kings of their continents.
That this World Cup does not feel part of a redemption arc for either says plenty about the magnitude of what they have achieved since.
Southgate has, as a manager, reached a place in the English sporting conscience he never came close to achieving as a player, but Cisse has gone further, a ubiquitous influence on just about every great moment in the history of Senegalese football.
Senegal have qualified for the World Cup on three occasions and reached the AFCON Final three times. Cisse has, as either captain or head coach, been involved in the lot, from the iconic victory over France in the opening game in Seoul in 2002, to the win on penalties over Egypt that made Senegal champions of Africa for the first time this year.
“He is like a gift from God,” one member of the Senegal staff says, suggesting comparison with Didier Deschamps, who has won the World Cup as both a player and manager for France, would be more apt.
Like Deschamps, and indeed Southgate, Cisse faced heavy criticism throughout his reign over his perceived conservatism and failure to get the best from his attacking players, but the Cup of Nations win appears to have quieted the last of the detractors.
“He took the team seven years ago and it wasn’t easy for him,” says forward Famara Diedhiou, 29. “But he never gives up, he gives his experience to us and we try to learn.”
Senegal only became a continental force in the Nineties. Even when Cisse took the helm, the country, now ranked 18th, were outside the world’s top 60.
The 2002 team skippered by Cisse are a source of inspiration for the players he now leads.
“We look back at them and they push us,” Diedhiou adds. “Now we are here and we try to do the same.”
