Senegal coach Pape Thiaw insisted on Friday that “trophies are won on the pitch” when asked about the decision to strip the Senegalese team of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and declare Morocco the champions.
“I am focused on my job. It is important to not be distracted. Everyone knows we are the champions of Africa,” Thiaw told reporters at a press conference in Paris, ahead of his team’s friendly meeting with Peru on Saturday at the Stade de France.
“We are going to keep working hard to try to win more trophies. It is clear in our minds that trophies are won on the pitch.”
Saturday’s encounter is part of Senegal’s preparations for the World Cup, when they will face France, Norway, and the winner of a Bolivia-Iraq play-off in the group stage in the United States.
Peru will also play their first game since the Cup of Nations final against Morocco in Rabat on January 18.
Senegal won 1-0 thanks to Pape Gueye’s extra-time goal, although the game was marred by wild events at the end of normal time, when numerous Thiaw’s players walked off the field in protest of the decision to award Morocco a penalty with the score still tied.
Some Senegalese fans also attempted a pitch invasion, causing the game to be delayed for about 20 minutes before Senegal’s players returned.
Brahim Diaz, who was ruled to have been fouled for the penalty, saw his feeble spot-kick saved, allowing Senegal to win in extra time, leaving the hosts astonished.
Senegal, on the other hand, were sensationally stripped of the title last week, when the Confederation of African Football stated that it had approved the Moroccan Football Federation’s appeal, claiming that the champions had violated tournament rules by walking out.
As a result, it determined Senegal had forfeited the match, converting its 1-0 victory into a 3-0 defeat, and crowned Morocco champions instead.
Senegal filed an appeal against the judgment on Wednesday with the Swiss Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“We deserved to be champions of Africa on the pitch, and we will try to do the same thing off it,” said Senegal captain Idrissa Gana Gueye on Friday.
Last week, Everton midfielder Gueye, 36, stated that he was willing to “hand back the medals” to Morocco if it eased tensions between the two countries.
Gueye was also a member of the Senegal team that won the Cup of Nations trophy for the first time in 2022, in Cameroon.
“Nothing can replace the emotions that we have experienced,” Gueye added on Friday, pointing out that his team has won two titles in the last three editions of AFCON, having also reached the 2019 final, which they lost to Algeria.
“We didn’t steal those results. A whole country puts in the work, a nation that gives everything on the field and off it.”
