Former Super Eagles captain Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha has rated the Teranga Lions of Senegal as Africa’s best hope at the 2022 World Cup even without injured captain Sadio Mane.
Sadio Mane has been ruled out of the World Cup after he underwent surgery following injury while playing for Bayern Munich recently.
However, Okocha said he believes that even without their inspirational captain Senegal will still have the best chance to go past the first round of Qatar 2022.
“They are the reigning African champions and are also ranked No 1 in Africa by FIFA,” he remarked.
“They are a solid team and should be the African team to go the farthest in Qatar.”
Senegal were only the second African team after Cameroon to reach the World Cup quarterfinal in 2002.
They open their 2022 campaign today against the Netherlands in a group that also has hosts Qatar and Ecuador.
‘Jay Jay’, who featured at three World Cups, will be a pundit for pay TV SuperSport during the World Cup.
He said he is relaxed because the Super Eagles will not feature at the tournament after they failed to qualify ahead of arch-rivals Ghana.
“I am not under pressure because Nigeria are not taking part. So, we’re only spectators,” he explained.
