In a group featuring hosts Qatar, Netherlands and Ecuador, African champion Senegal are been considered an unproven dark horse going into the tournament.
Where will your money be on Match day One of Group A, Senegal or Netherlands?
NETHERLANDS – RETURNING GIANTS
The Oranje has returned to the World Cup after an unlikely non-appearance in Russia. The 2018 World Cup absence came after the Netherlands had advanced to the 2010 final and 2014 semifinals in South Africa and Brazil respectively.
Now under 71-year-old manager Louis van Gaal, trying his third luck with the national team, ranked 8th, the Netherlands are in search of their first World Cup title which has eluded them on three attempts.
NERTHLANDS PLAYERS TO WATCH
The Oranje will be going to Qatar as one of the teams with rich talent with players like Matthijs de Ligt, being one of the world’s most polished young center backs as well Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong, a complete box-to-box midfielder who is also expected to come in to offer versatility.
With Georginio Wijnaldum out injured, PSV midfielder Cody Gakpo is expected to be a more integral part of the squad while striker Memphis Depay who had an impressive run in UEFA’s World Cup qualifying campaign with 12 goals tied with England’s Harry Kane will be expected to lead the front for the Dutch men.
Liverpool’s center back Virgil van Dijk is also anticipating an opportunity to leave his mark on the international stage after missing out the EURO 2020 due to an injury – torn ACL.
This will be the 11th time the Netherlands will be playing at the World have a slightly 50% winning rate at the tournament having played 50 matches, winning 27, losing 12 and only losing on 11 occasions.
SENEGAL – Will the Lions roar louder?
Senegal’s Teranga Lions will be returning to the bigger stage, this time for a second successive time – after playing at the 2018 edition in Russia.
Coached by their former captain who also played at the 2002 World Cup where the debutants shocked then then World champions France, Aliou Cisse will lead his Lions into Qatar at their current rank of 18 in the World – of course, Africa’s highest-ranked nation!
With the recent bagging of their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations title after beating Egypt for the crown earlier this year, Senegal has emerged as a fashionable pick to make a deep run in Qatar. On their road to qualification, Senegal recorded 5 wins and 1 draw, a remarkable feat.
SENEGAL STARS TO WATCH
The Teranga Lions are expected to head to Qatar with some decorated players like Chelsea FC Goalkeeper Édouard Mendy – a 2020-21 Champions League winner and centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly who is the captain of the side.
Defensive midfielder Idrissa Gueye (Everton) and Ismaïla Sarr, a 24-year-old winger for Watford will also come in to offer options for Cisse.
On top of the available talent for Senegal, Sadio Mane, the 2022 African player of the year comes in to offer a lot of quality for the African champions but with his recent injury sustained in yesterday’s Bundesliga match Weder Bremen, It remains to seen if he will be fit in the next 11 days.
In his six-year spell at Liverpool, Mane racked up 120 goals for a squad that won the 2019-20 Premier League title and reached three Champions League finals including winning the 2018-19 edition.
Born in Bambali, Senegal, Mane carries the nation’s hopes of going beyond the quarterfinals – a feat the country once achieved in 2002.
The 30-year-old Bayern Munich winger comes in with a knack for goals, and he is already Senegal’s all-time top scorer and many Senegalese and Africans are hoping his injury is not serious.
The stage is set, the time is slowly ticking and Qatar is awaiting for the football fiesta to get started.
