Senegal objective was to play decent game against Kenya – Pape Thiaw

Senegal national team head coach Pape Thiaw has explained their intentions was not to humiliate Kenya during the 8-0 friendly defeat at the Mardan Sports Complex, in Antalya, Turkey, on Tuesday.

Harambee Stars suffered their worst defeat in recent years after trailing 3-0 with only 15 minutes played. Spearheaded by Sadio Mane, Senegal scored their opener through Nicolas Jackson before El Hadji Malick Diouf made it 2-0.

Abdoulaye Seck set up the unmarked Jackson to tap home the third, before Mane finished off a counter-attacking move in the 17th minute. Mane then scored from the penalty spot to make it 5-0 in the 30th minute before the Al Nassr star completed his hat-trick four minutes later.

The second half saw the former African champions add the sixth two minutes from the restart courtesy of Ibrahim Mbaye before substitute Cherif Ndiaye sealed the emphatic win.

Senegal wanted to bounce back from Brazil defeat

Heading into the fixture, Senegal had lost 2-0 against Brazil in another friendly played at Emirates Stadium in London. According to Thiaw, the team was out to return to winning and didn’t know they had set a record at the end of the friendly.

“I wanted to congratulate my players because they really followed the instructions. They played a serious game, respecting our game plan,” said Thiaw as quoted by Wiwi Sport. “I thought it was very important, because we were coming off a defeat and, facing us, we knew we were up against a tough team.

“When you have competitive players who don’t like to lose and who can bounce back after a defeat, it’s a real asset.”

Thiaw added: “You just told me we broke a record, but we just wanted to win this match and play seriously. Our objective was to play a decent game, and we did it. Congratulations to the players.”

On Senegal’s preparations ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco, he said: “We can’t go into a competition with just one system.

“Because sometimes, depending on the context of the matches, it can change. Afterwards, when we have very committed and intelligent players… we only worked on it once.”

Before playing Senegal, Kenya had suffered a 1-0 defeat against Equatorial Guinea.

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