New revelations emerge on Senegal's national team internal dynamics after World Cup elimination

While senior players deny influencing coach Pape Thiaw's decisions, journalist Romain Molina's revelations suggest a different dynamic. Idrissa Gana Gueye stated that senior players only follow the coach's instructions and relay his messages to the team. However, Molina claims that more experienced players exerted significant influence during the tournament.

He cited an incident during the 5-0 victory against Iraq, where Sadio Mané allegedly told Pape Thiaw during a cooling break, "Ibrahim Mbaye can't go on. He needs to be taken out." Ibrahim Mbaye was substituted in the 57th minute by Iliman Ndiaye, who then assisted Pape Gueye and scored Senegal's fifth goal.

This event raises questions about the team's internal operations during the World Cup, especially given previous reports of tensions between some international players and the technical staff after their elimination by Belgium. The tournament concluded amidst heavy criticism of Pape Thiaw's management and Pape Gueye's decision to suspend his international career as long as the current technical staff remains.