Senegal won the last African Cup of Nations (CAN) and has a solid squad. Do you feel a particular expectation?
Pape Gueye:
Of course there is a wait.
People know that we have a quality group and that we won the first CAN in Senegal.
They are now waiting for us to be there in front of the whole world.
We have a goal in mind.
I'm not going to tell you but it's ambitious, very ambitious.
We have top players, who are in big clubs.
So why not dream like France, Spain?
We don't go below those.
The world sees what we are capable of and we arrive to show that Senegal can dream as high as all nations.
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Is it possible to do without Sadio Mané?
That changes everything, Sadio Mané … As soon as he touches the ball, the opponents say “watch out” and it frees the others.
The captain is Kalidou Koulibaly, but when Mané speaks in the locker room, you listen.
Mané is irreplaceable but we have very good attackers, side players with a bit of his style, speed, percussion...
But there are other leaders, like Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Gana Gueye...
I have a lot of respect for them.
They made me feel very welcome.
They are my big brothers, I listen to their advice.
I knew they were good, but the humility they have... If you're 18-19 and come from L2, they respect you like they respect Sadio Mané.
They hold the team.
Abdou Diallo also brings his experience.
And then there are young people like Bamba Dieng, Pape Matar Sarr.
Even for the years to come, we have good prospects.
All World Cup winners since 1930
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For you, everything has happened very quickly with Senegal since your first selection, a year ago...
Old timers like Gana Gueye often tell me: “You are lucky, you haven't had a hard time.
You arrive directly, not even five selections and you win the CAN” (laughs).
It's true that I arrived after everyone's work, I took advantage of it!
I had this chance to win this first trophy for the country, I am marked forever.
How did you experience the return to Senegal after this title?
It was amazing.
We had to go from Dakar airport to the presidential palace.
Normally it's 20 minutes, it took six hours!
People were screaming, crying, it was really exceptional.
During the competition, we knew that things were moving but we were focused.
But in Dakar we understood.
And then on match days, throughout the CAN, people went to my father's, even people he didn't know.
The door was open, they were asking, they were watching the game, there was atmosphere.
After the final, I called him on video while I was still on the pitch and saw that the whole village was at home!
It really moved me.
When you're an actor, you don't realize, it's
You were born in France. What is your relationship to Senegal?
This is the country of my parents.
I was born in the Paris region but my father always wanted us to go there for the holidays, to say hello to the family, to spend a week or two.
In 2017, I stayed there for two months for my preparation, in incognito mode, no one knew me.
The people of the village just knew that I was my father's son.
I continued to work and came back as a CAN winner.
It is the pride of my parents, of all the Senegalese people.
But I aim even higher, we want to continue to make them proud during this World Cup.
