FIFA WC: CIsse believes in teamwork to get to last 16

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said he needs to go back to the drawing board to find a way to beat Ecuador in his side's last game in Group A at the World Cup to have a chance of progressing to the round of 16.

Senegal followed their 2-0 defeat against the Netherlands in their opening match to win 3-1 against Qatar and restore their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage of the tournament.

"We have to think about the appropriate approach to the last match. We need to win to have a chance to qualify for the last 16," Cisse told a news conference.

"Our concentration must be better as we could have avoided the goal that we conceded (against Qatar), but the Ecuador match will be different."

Cisse indicated that his team could have finished the match with a bigger margin.

"We started the second half well, went 2-0 up and then struggled a bit as Qatar was more aggressive and reduced the gap. But once again we were better in transition and we managed to score the decisive third goal."

Cisse said the most important thing for him is the team's collective performance and the adjustments to the starting lineup.

"The team did what I asked for. Teamwork is the basis. Yes, it is difficult to replace Sadio Mane, but in the end, this is a team sport," he said.

Senegal may find themselves in a situation similar to the one they were in in 2018 in Russia when they were eliminated from the group stage on fair play points. Senegal's players had received six yellow cards versus Japan's four, and the Asian team snatched second place behind Poland.

So far in Qatar, Senegal's players have received five yellow cards in two matches.

"I didn't ask the players to play carefully, the yellow cards are the decision of the referees," Cisse said.

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