SENEGAL coach Pape Thiaw insisted Friday that “trophies are won on the pitch” when asked about the decision to strip his team of the Africa Cup of Nations 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 game is part of Senegal’s preparations for the upcoming World Cup, when they will play France, Norway, and the winner of a play-off between Bolivia and Iraq in the group stage in the United States.
The Peru match will also be their first outing 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, but the occasion was marred by chaotic scenes at the end of normal time when many of Thiaw’s players walked off the pitch in protest at the decision to award Morocco a penalty with the score still goalless.
Some Senegalese supporters also attempted a pitch invasion, and the game was held up for almost 20 minutes before the Senegal players returned.
Brahim Diaz, who was adjudged to have been fouled for the penalty, then had his weak spot-kick saved, allowing Senegal to go on and win in extra time with the hosts stunned.
However, Senegal were sensationally stripped of the title last week, when the Confederation of African Football announced that it had upheld an appeal by the Moroccan Football Federation, saying that the champions had infringed tournament regulations by walking off.
As a result, it declared that Senegal had forfeited the match, turning its 1-0 victory into a 3-0 defeat, making Morocco the champions instead.
On Wednesday, Senegal lodged an appeal against that decision to the Swiss-based 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, said he was ready to “hand back the medals” to Morocco if it eases tension between the two countries.
Gueye was also part of the Senegal team, which won the Cup of Nations title for the first time at the 2022 edition in Cameroon.
“Nothing can replace the emotions that we have experienced,” Gueye added on Friday, pointing out that his team have 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 put in the work, a nation which gives everything on the field and off it.”