Senegal coach Aliou Cisse commented on his side's defeat to Algeria in the Africa Cup of Nations final on the weekend, and in doing so, revealed why he thinks the Lions of Teranga twice failed to get the better of Riyad Mahrez's side.
Despite being the top-ranked nation at the tournament in Egypt, Sadio Mane and company failed to clinch the Afcon title, suffering a 1-0 defeat to the Desert Foxes at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday night.
The loss extended Senegal's wait for an Afcon title, with Cisse's side having now suffered a second defeat in an Afcon final, matching the unwanted feat set by the nation in 2002.
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Despite the disappointment of finishing in second place, Cisse, who was captain of the team that suffered heartbreak in the 2002 edition of the tournament, insisted he was proud of his side, who were beaten twice by Algeria in Egypt."They put away the chance they needed. On the whole, we didn't let ourselves down. We created chances but weren't able to score," he said in post-match comments, as per africanfootball.com.
"When you concede a goal so early in the match, the plans become clear. You have to attack against an aggressive defence and we weren't able to find the solutions."
Senegal were without the services of influential defender Kalidou Koulibaly for the final, but Cisse feels his side's lack of consistency led to their downfall against Djamel Belmadi's team.
"What are we missing? Being consistent. The last time Senegal reached this point was in 2002. The experience of big matches, we want to be here more often. We're getting closer to winning," the Senegalese tactician added.
"The team has been making progress these past five years. A final is decided by fine margins and we deserved better tonight.
"It's been 17 years since Senegal got to this stage of the competition. We've only experienced disillusion and disappointment.
"I'm not important. What counts is what I'm doing with the players and the fact the federation has confidence in me."