Duarte: Senegal Qatar 2022 qualifier favourites but anything can happen

Togo’s only FIFA World Cup appearance to date came at Germany 2006. Drawn in the same qualifying group as Senegal, the Togolese won 3-1 in Lome and drew 2-2 in Dakar, results that helped them finish top of the section with 23 points, two ahead of the Lions of Teranga.

That was a surprising outcome because Senegal had just reached the quarter-finals at Korea/Japan 2002.

Fast forward to 2021 and the two teams are in the same qualifying group and in a similar situation to 15 years ago – Senegal in much the better form, having reached Russia in 2018 and finished runners-up at the 2019 CAF Africa Cup of Nations.

“What happened in 2006 could be positive for us, especially in terms of the mindset of the players,” Togo’s Portuguese coach, Paulo Duarte said about the similarities between then and now.

“We’ve gone from being a team that was feared throughout Africa and reached 36 in the world ranking to one that now lies 133rd.

“Taking Togo back to the top won’t be easy. It’s going to take time and hard work. Senegal are twice as strong as us at the moment, and we’re not as strong as the Togo side that took on Senegal in 2006 and qualified.

“It’s a tight group, with Senegal starting out with a slight advantage. They’re the favourites and the best team in Africa right now.

“They’ve got a lot of quality players. On paper, they’re the team to beat in the group, though anything can happen in football.”

Tough assignment

Aside from Senegal, Togo have Congo and Namibia in Group H in the second round of the African qualifying competition.

Togo kick off their campaign against the Senegalese in Dakar before entertaining Namibia.

“We have a young squad that lacks international experience. We need at least two years of work to get to where Togo were at before. We need to improve a few things and look at the psychology too.”

Duarte, one of African football’s most successful coaches, achieved big things in his stint with Burkina Faso, taking them to the semi-finals of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

“To be honest, our main objective is to qualify for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations because Togo missed out on the last two. We’ll see what happens after that. We won’t have any pressure on us in the qualifiers, but we’ll be doing all we can to get some good results.

PHOTO/COURTESY