{"id":92230,"date":"2025-12-17T17:34:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T17:34:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon"},"modified":"2025-12-17T18:10:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T18:10:30","slug":"senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon","title":{"rendered":"Senegal Takes Fitness Gamble with Injured Trio in AFCON"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>Senegal coach Pape Thiaw has named his 28-man final squad for the 2025 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, selecting three players carrying injuries as the reigning African champions prepare to defend their crown in Morocco.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Teranga Lions, who lifted the trophy for the first time in 2022, begin their campaign on 23 December against Botswana before facing Benin and DR Congo in Group D.<\/p>\n<p>Despite concerns over fitness, Thiaw insists all three doubtful players are expected to recover in time for the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>A major talking point is the inclusion of Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Assane Diao, all of whom had been considered doubtful for the competition.<\/p>\n<p>Assane Diao suffered a thigh injury for Como last weekend.<\/p>\n<p>Habib Diarra has not played since undergoing groin surgery in September for Sunderland.<\/p>\n<p>Ismaila Sarr has missed Crystal Palace\u2019s last three matches after suffering ankle ligament damage against Manchester United.<\/p>\n<p>Thiaw, however, said he was \u201cconfident the medical staff will recover them in time,\u201d stressing their tactical importance and experience at international level.<\/p>\n<p>Senegal\u2019s core remains intact, featuring established stars across Europe and the Gulf.<\/p>\n<p>Captain Kalidou Koulibaly, attacking icon Sadio Mane\u0301, and midfield anchor Idrissa Gana Gueye all make the squad, while Pape Matar Sarr, one of Africa\u2019s most exciting young midfielders, will play a central role after a strong season with Tottenham.<\/p>\n<p>Up front, Thiaw has named a dynamic and varied attack.<\/p>\n<p>Boulaye Dia, Habib Diallo, Nicolas Jackson, Iliman Ndiaye, and Cherif Ndiaye provide depth and versatility, giving Senegal one of the most potent forward lines in the competition.<\/p>\n<p>In defence, Moussa Niakhate\u0301, Ismail Jakobs, Antoine Mendy, Abdoulaye Seck, and rising prospect Mamadou Sarr join Koulibaly in forming a unit built on physical presence and athleticism.<\/p>\n<p>The goalkeeping department includes experienced Edouard Mendy, in-form Le Havre keeper Mory Diaw, and Nice\u2019s Yehvann Diouf.<\/p>\n<p>Thiaw said Senegal\u2019s goal was clear: \u201cWe are here to go as far as possible. This team has the talent and maturity to compete again at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With a balanced squad and confidence in their recovering stars, Senegal head to Morocco as one of the heavy favourites to win the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Senegal squad for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations are:<\/p>\n<p><b>Goalkeepers<\/b><\/p>\n<p>1.Mory Diaw-Le Havre<\/p>\n<p>2.Yehvann Diouf -Nice<\/p>\n<p>3.Edouard Mendy-Al Ahli<\/p>\n<p><b>Defenders<\/b><\/p>\n<p>4.Ilay Camara-Anderlecht<\/p>\n<p>5.Kre\u0301pin Diatta-Monaco<\/p>\n<p>7.Ismail Jakobs-Galatasaray<\/p>\n<p>10.Moussa Niakhate\u0301-Olympique Lyonnais<\/p>\n<p>12.Abdoulaye Seck-Maccabi Haifa<\/p>\n<p><b>Midfielders<\/b><\/p>\n<p>13.Lamine Camara-Monaco<\/p>\n<p>15.Habib Diarra-Sunderland<\/p>\n<p>17.Pape Gueye-Villarreal<\/p>\n<p>18.Pape Matar Sarr-Tottenham Hotspur<\/p>\n<p><b>Forwards<\/b><\/p>\n<p>19.Boulaye Dia-Lazio<\/p>\n<p>20.Habib Diallo-Metz<\/p>\n<p>21.Assane Diao-Como<\/p>\n<p>22.Nicolas Jackson-Bayern Munich<\/p>\n<p>23.Sadio Mane\u0301-Al Nassr<\/p>\n<p>24.Ibrahim Mbaye-Paris Saint-Germain<\/p>\n<p>25.Cherif Ndiaye-Samsunspor<\/p>\n<p>26.Iliman Ndiaye-Everton<\/p>\n<p>28.Ismaila Sarr-Crystal Palace<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. Senegal coach Pape Thiaw has named his 28-man final squad for the 2025 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, selecting three players carrying injuries as the reigning African champions prepare to defend their crown in Morocco. The Teranga Lions, who lifted the trophy for the first time in 2022, begin their campaign [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":92229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-92230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Senegal Takes Fitness Gamble with Injured Trio in AFCON - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Senegal coach Pape Thiaw has named his 28-man final squad for the 2025 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, selec ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Senegal Takes Fitness Gamble with Injured Trio in AFCON\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Senegal coach Pape Thiaw has named his 28-man final squad for the 2025 TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, selec ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T17:34:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-17T18:10:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982217.930808.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"443\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Senegal Takes Fitness Gamble with Injured Trio in AFCON\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T17:34:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-17T18:10:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon\"},\"wordCount\":450,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/12\/sm_1765982217.930808.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/senegal-takes-fitness-gamble-with-injured-trio-in-afcon\",\"name\":\"Senegal Takes Fitness Gamble with Injured Trio in AFCON - 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