Senegal showed great mentality in historic England win - Pape Thiaw

Photo Credit - Fédération Sénégalaise de Football.

Senegal coach Pape Thiaw has singled out the great mentality of his players for driving them past England in a historic 3-1 international friendly win at the City Ground on Tuesday.

Despite taking an early lead through the country’s all-time top scorer Harry Kane, goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra, and Cheikh Sabaly handed Thomas Tuchel his first defeat as England manager.

“First thing I would like to do is to congratulate my players for the tremendous performance and mindset that they showed out on the pitch today. I think that from the very beginning they set out the display they wanted to win. Well done to England as well, they showed some good form in certain periods of the game,” said Thiaw as quoted by OneFootball.

“I think we showed a great mentality, we came back, managed to equaliser just before half-time. Then the second half half we were able to pose our own game a little bit more, we scored the two goals in order to win, what was a great victory for us. It was great to be able to win here, at a country imbued with football.”

On Senegal extending their unbeaten run following the win and their preparedness for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Thiaw said: “Our aim when we were out on the pitch was not to lose, as we wanted to maintain our 21-match unbeaten streak and take it to 22 matches. Now, in a couple of months, we have two big, big qualifying games coming up so our focus is now going to be on those games.

“I think we’re strong in all areas. Today, we were especially strong in the middle. I think that some of our players have been growing into the game a lot more, there beginning to click together, almost certainly because they are playing together a lot more.”