El Hadji Diouf has warned England not to let history repeat itself when they face Senegal in the World Cup on Sunday.
Diouf was part of the Senegal side that stunned football 20 years ago by beating World Cup holders France 1-0 in one the game’s biggest upsets. Former Liverpool, Bolton, Sunderland, Blackburn and Leeds star Diouf said the mistake France made was believing the game was won before it was played.
Diouf, part of Senegal’s coaching staff in Qatar, told England they will suffer the same fate as France if they believe they are already through to the quarter-finals.
“It reminds me of when we played against France,” said Diouf. “They thought they’d won the game before they played it. If England do the same thing on Sunday, this is good for us.
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“We don’t have anything to show the world. If you see our squad, we have Edouard Mendy, we have Kalidou Koulibaly. We have a lot of good players playing in England.
“Some play in the Championship, but they're really Premier League players, like Ismaila Sarr. It’s for them to show how good they are in this game.
“England have to win, but we have to show them the game is not finished before we play. I know we’re not the favourites, but we’re going to do everything to beat them and the players can do it.”
Diouf, 41, said all the pressure will be on England, with African teams having shown in Qatar they are not to be underestimated.
“When some countries play against African teams, they talk about luck and that they’re not good enough or whatever,” said Diouf.
“But what we’ve seen at this World Cup - Tunisia beating France, Morocco going through and Senegal doing well - shows we want to be among the best in the world.”
Diouf reckons Sunday’s encounter will be won by the team with the biggest desire and spirit, rather than the one with the best tactics and gameplan.
“England have a good team and a very good team spirit,” said Diouf. “It’s not like with Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, when the two of them didn’t like each other, it’s about team spirit and Southgate did a great job.
“It's not about the best team winning it, it’s the one with the strongest mentality and team spirit who are going to win it.”
If it goes to penalties, Diouf is convinced Senegal - who won the African Cup of Nations in a shoot-out - will prevail.
“If it goes to penalties, we’re going to win it, easy. I know the goalkeeper we’ve got and I know we can stop some of their penalties.”
