Senegal coach denies juju talk

Joseph Koto © SS

Senegal head coach Joseph Koto has dismissed talk of his side possessing any form of fetish at the just concluded Afcon U20 tournament in Zambia where they lost to the hosts 2-0 in the final.Speaking after the loss, Koto emphasized that he had no knowledge about this and insisted that juju does not work in football otherwise they would have won.

“I did not see it for sure I did not see it. I can say that I do not believe in such things and if we won this game you would have used it as a suspicion that we won the game but despite what is being said, Zambia won,” Koto told supersport.com.

Senegalese striker Ibrahima Ndiaye threw an object from his socks into the Zambian goal past goalkeeper Mangani Banda as the Junior Chipolopolo prepared to take a freekick from the right flank in the 57th minute as the West Africans found themselves on the back foot 2-0 down.

Burundian referee Thierry Nkurunziza booked Ndiaye for his naughty action and the match proceeded but after the former had to end a burst of commotion between the two sets of players.

Earlier on in the semi-finals between Senegal and Guinea, the Guineans complained bitterly about foreign objects being used by Senegal. One was caught being exchanged on camera. Could this just be a coincidence?

Koto, whose side has lost their second consecutive Afcon U20 final and will be representing Africa at the Fifa U20 World Cup in Korea from May 20 – June 11, admitted that Zambia were the better team on the day.

He further added that, “What I believe is the preparation of the team. We have to focus more on the preparations because African countries can go far with good preparations.”

“Our focus now is the World Cup but I would like to say that stop believing that those things exist. If juju exists, you would have seen Senegal win this game.”

Senegal will alongside Afcon U20 champions Zambia, Guinea and South Africa carry the African flag at the Korea showpiece