Aliou Cissé, the Senegal coach, had a thought for the former boss of the Algerian team, Djamel Belmadi.
Djamel Belmadi is no longer Algeria coach. He had to abandon his functions at the end of the last CAN, where the Greens once again came out on 1er round. Since then, the technician has slipped away to Qatar, where he lives. But he is not forgotten. Colleagues think of him, especially those he faced.
Aliou Cissé, the Senegal coach, challenged Belmadi three times and lost each time. The two men also have the distinction of being born in the same town (Champigny sur Marne). In an interview with Le Parisien, he had a thought for him.
Cissé praises Belmadi’s work
“Me, him and Walid Regragui, we made ourselves a little alone, in the hard way, in the fact of always having to prove things, to show that it is possible even if we don’t believe in you, did he declare. They are leaders capable of pushing others to move forward. It’s really something that’s within us. We are made like that, we grew up like that, our life has not always been easy. We had to shake up the established order to be where we are.”
Cissé also made it known that he still kept in touch with Belmadi, but also other high-level coaches whom he knows well. ” Yes. We talk with Djamel (Belmadi), Walid (Regragui). Kaba (Diawara), I have it almost every day. Among the former PSG players, I planned to go see Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea, Mikel (Arteta) at Arsenal. I regularly have Bernard Lama on the phone. I also see Jay-Jay Okocha again, who works for CAF.”
Cissé also confided that he was grateful for the fact that he was still stationed with the Lions of Téranga. “It was not premeditated. When I arrived in 2015, I couldn’t imagine that I would stay this long. We couldn’t get out of the CAN groups and ultimately we won. I worked a lot. We put together a more attractive team, while some players were reluctant to come. My experience, my experience helped me. Because I was captain of this team, I have this dual culture, I grew up in Senegal and in France. I know the realities of my country, the expectations and above all the happiness aroused by this national team which is the barometer of Senegalese society.”
