Senegal coach Pape Thiaw has called for greater aggression in defence and improved efficiency in attack after his side suffered a 3-1 defeat to France in their opening World Cup Group I match.
The African nation impressed during a competitive first half and matched France for long periods before the game turned in the final stages.
France captain Kylian Mbappe broke the deadlock in the 66th minute before Bradley Barcola doubled the lead with eight minutes remaining.
Ibrahim Mbaye briefly gave Senegal hope with a stoppage-time goal, but Mbappe quickly restored France’s two-goal advantage with his second strike of the match.
Thiaw admitted his side were too passive defensively at key moments and stressed the need for improvement ahead of Monday’s clash against Norway.
“There were some mistakes. It was a collective mistake,” he said.
“Sometimes we had a low defensive block and we were very passive on the pitch. We need to be more aggressive against the ball carrier so certain passes do not happen.”
Despite the defeat, Thiaw remains confident Senegal can bounce back and keep their qualification hopes alive.
The result ended a lengthy unbeaten run in major competitions for Senegal, who arrived at the World Cup in strong form.
“We need to remobilise the players,” he said.
“It’s been a long time since this team lost its first match in a competition, but we still have two matches left and we still have our chances.”
The coach believes maintaining a more compact defensive shape will be crucial when facing Norway and star striker Erling Haaland.
“We need to keep working on that to keep the lines closer together,” Thiaw said.
“This will allow us to have a more compact block and avoid being stretched across the pitch.”
With Norway up next, Senegal know a positive result could quickly put their World Cup campaign back on track.
