Fresh from beating Brazil in an international friendly game 4-2, the star of the senior national team of Senegal Sadio Mane says the team will be wary of Nigeria when they begin the defence of their Africa Cup of Nations title in January, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Mane scored twice in the win over Brazil, which is part of their preparation for the defence of their Africa Cup of Nations title in Cote D’Ivoire. He played down the significance of the win saying defending the AFCON title is more on his mind.
” We won and it’s a nice feeling to have done this for the history and pride of our football but beyond that we have the Africa Cup of Nations to defend. It begins in January with a lot of top teams in Africa gunning to dethrone us. That should be our aim”, he said.
Asked about the teams that could possibly stop his team from achieving their aim. The Bayern Munich star said the AFCON is one tournament where surprises isn’t anything new but reckons the big guns will always be favorite going into the tournament.
” The job we have is to defend our title and it’s not something that is easy on this continent. The AFCON is full of surprises but we know the usual top teams like the host, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Algeria and Cameroon. These teams are the top teams and we must put that at the back of our mind and not the win over Brazil”, he stated.
Osas Mahawi
