VIDEO SHOWS: SENEGAL TRAINING AND COMMENTS FROM PLAYERS AHEAD OF AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS OPENER AGAINST BOTSWANA COMPLETE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW SHOWS: TANGIER, MOROCCO (DECEMBER 22, 2025) (STATS PERFORM – Access all) 1. SENEGAL PLAYERS JOGGING AT TRAINING SESSION 2. MIDFIELDER, IDRISSA GANA GUEYE, JOGGING WITH WINGER, ISMAILA SARR 3. VARIOUS OF FORWARD, SADIO MANE, WARMING UP 4. PLAYERS WARMING UP 5. FORWARD, IBRAHIM MBAYE, JOGGING WITH BALL 6. PLAYERS WARMING UP 7. HEAD COACH, PAPE THIAW, TALKING TO ASSISTANTS 8. (SOUNDBITE) (French) SENEGAL MIDFIELDER, PATHE CISS, SAYING: "I don't think it puts pressure on us. He's right (head coach Pape Thiaw), we're among the favourites, but we have to remain humble. We have to keep our feet on the ground and remember that it's never easy to play in the Africa Cup of Nations and face certain teams that can cause upsets. To live up to our status as favourites, we need to be humble and, as I said, respect our opponents in order to win." 9. VARIOUS OF GUEYE TALKING TO SARR 10. FORWARD, NICOLAS JACKSON, WARMING UP 11. CAPTAIN, KALIDOU KOULIBALY, WARMING UP, TALKING TO SARR 12. KOULIBALY WITH SARR AND GUEYE, WARMING UP 13. (SOUNDBITE) (French) SENEGAL DEFENDER, ANTOINE MENDY, SAYING: "They have set an example for us (Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly), as they have played in at least five or six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. These players will lead the whole team. They will provide us with the best solutions in this competition so that we can go as far as possible." 14. DEFENDER, EL HADJI MALICK DIOUF, TALKING TO ASSITANT COACH 15. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS WITH ARMS AROUND EACH OTHER 16. VARIOUS THIAW TALKING TO ASSISTANTS 17. (SOUNDBITE) (French) SENEGAL GOALKEEPER, YEHVANN DIOUF, SAYING: We know that the Africa Cup of Nations is a very difficult competition with some very good teams. We are filled with humility for this competition. We know that to win, we will have to bring all the ingredients to the table. 18. VARIOUS OF PLAYERS WARMING UP STORY: Senegal kick-off their Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Botswana in Tangier on Tuesday (December 23) with the weight of expection on their shoulders. The 2021 champions are among the favourites to win the tournament and went 33 matches unbeaten before losing 2-0 to Brazil in a November friendly. That run also saw Pape Thiaw's side become the first African team to defeat England, handing Thomas Tuchel his first loss as Three Lions' head coach with a 3-1 friendly win in Nottingham in June. Armed with the experience of former African player of the year Sadio Mane and captain Kalidou Koulibaly, Senegal also boast a squad packed with emerging talent including Paris Saint-Germain's 17-year-old winger Ibrahim Mbaye, Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara and West Ham defender El Hadji Malick Diouf. Botswana, meanwhile, are making just their second appearance at the tournament and first since 2012 when they lost all their matches. In the other Group D match, DR Congo, who beat Nigeria last month to reach March's World Cup intercontinental playoffs, take on Benin. (Production: Conal Quinn)
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