Djirèye Clotilde Coly hopes for “performance” and a solid team from the coach September 25, 2026

For his first match at the head of the Lions, Patrick Vieira will be expected on the result and on his ability to build a solid team. The Minister of Youth and Sports, Djirèye Clotilde Coly, who spoke in an interview with Le Soleil Digital, believes that the new coach has the legitimacy and experience necessary to meet this challenge.

This Friday, at 1 p.m., in Maputo, Patrick Vieira will experience his baptism of fire on the Lions bench, against Mozambique, in qualifying for the Can 2027. And the authority does not hide its confidence. Asked by Le Soleil Digital about the objectives assigned to the new coach, the Minister of Youth and Sports, Djirèye Clotilde Coly, hails the former French international as “an emblematic figure of world football.” “He is a very valuable athlete, who has very solid high-level experience,” she underlines, highlighting the career and legitimacy of Patrick Vieira. She sums up her expectations in one word: “performance”. This first test takes on a special character, since Senegal was initially due to host its opponent in Dakar, before the order of the matches was reversed. The minister assures that the State will accompany the national team throughout this journey: first to Mozambique, then to Kenya, on September 29, and finally to Marseille, France, for a friendly match against the Comoros.

She indicates that a meeting was held with the Senegalese Football Federation after the decision to reverse the matches, in order to review the different aspects linked to the organization of the match. “All the logistical aspects, the delegation, the support, all of this was reviewed with the Federation,” she clarified. For the ministry, the change in program therefore does not modify the objective: to allow the Lions to approach this first deadline in the best conditions. The Federation keeps control over the choice of coach Beyond just the result against Mozambique, the minister expects Patrick Vieira to lay the foundations of a team capable of sustaining itself. “The expectations also relate to the construction or consolidation of a solid team,” she explained, referring to the many high-level individuals available to the selection.

The challenge for the new coach will be to transform this individual potential into collective strength, from the very first stages. Djirèye Clotilde Coly also recalled that the choice of Patrick Vieira falls to the Senegalese Football Federation, in accordance with the autonomy it enjoys. The ministry, she specifies, intervenes mainly on governance issues, ensuring in particular that selection criteria and contractual conditions are respected. “It is it (the federation) which chooses the coach”, underlined the minister, the role of the supervision being to ensure that the process respects the institutional framework and the general interest. On the decision to play the first leg in Mozambique, the Minister of Sports indicates that the Federation has put forward technical arguments which the ministry “accepts”.

However, she recalls that the Léopold Sédar Senghor stadium had obtained temporary approval from Caf and that its upgrade plan is continuing. Above all, she calls on the Federation to be more proactive, in order to avoid last minute changes, which can have, according to her, sporting, organizational and financial consequences. But now, attention is turning to the field. From this Friday, Patrick Vieira and the Lions will have to successfully enter the qualifiers for Can 2027, scheduled from June 19 to July 17 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Moussa DIOP and Oumar B. NDONGO