Senegal and the Ivory Coast face off in the first of two legs in the World Cup qualifiers Saturday.
The winner of the two-legged playoff moves on to the World Cup finals next summer. Ivory Coast enters the contest as the favorite, especially after making it to the last two World Cup tournaments and ranking among the top teams in the tournament.
However, Senegal is not afraid of its opponents.
“Ivory Coast is just an opponent. We know what has happened last time and we must keep the positives and leave the rest aside. It is a football match and the objective is to win it. So we are going to work to be able to achieve it,” Senegal striker Papiss Cisse said, according to Star Africa.“We are confident; the atmosphere is also good so there are no worries. We are not scared. We know that a game is ahead of us, a game which is going to be very tough. We will try to be present and focused from the start right to the end and do our best.”
Ivory Coast finished in first place in a group that included Morocco, Tanzania, and Gambia; the squad won four games and drew two.
Senegal finished atop a group that included Uganda, Angola, and Liberia; Senegal finished with 12 points thanks to three wins and three draws.
Prediction: Ivory Coast wins 3-0 at home.
Start Time: The match gets underway at 12:45 p.m. EST.