Former Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger Full of Praise for AFCON Star

• Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has lauded the performance of Senegal defender Saliou Ciss after their AFCON triumph
• The AS Nancy-Lorraine player excelled as the Teranga Lions won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history
• Ciss made the tournament's best eleven following his dazzling displays on the left side of defence at the competition in Cameroon

Former Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has described Saliou Ciss of Senegal as one of the best full backs on the continent after his outstanding display for the Teranga Lions at the Nations Cup.

Saliou Ciss is the only player in the Senegalese team that plays in the lower divisions in France, but starred as the West African football powerhouse won their first ever Africa Cup of Nations.

Wenger, who followed the Africa Cup of Nations, was impressed with the left-back and insists he played a key role in Senegal's success.

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“He was one of the best players in the tournament, on his side, he was monstrous. Technically flawless, very good defensively and bringing the surplus in attack, Senegal has one of the best full-backs on the African continent," said Arsene Wenger as quoted by Joueurs Senegalais.

Saliou Ciss played six out of seven games at the tournament and won a penalty which was missed by Sadio Mane in the final against Egypt.

The 32-year-old defender was also named in the tournament's best eleven.

Saliou Ciss and Senegalese teammates dominate AFCON best XI

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that newly-crowned TotalEnergies AFCON 2021 winners, Sadio Mane and Edouard Mendy, and Egyptian forward, Mohammed Salah have been included in the Confederation of African Football’s best team of the just-ended tournament.

The announced of the team was done on Monday evening and it was a collection of the tournament’s best players as determined by the Technical Study Group that was tasked with assessing the football played during the tournament and choosing the various best players from all the matches that were contested during the competition.

In addition to Salah, Mane and Mendy, there were players like Achraf Hakimi of Morocco, Edmund Tapsoba of Burkina Faso and Vincent Aboubakar of Cameroon who all made the starting eleven.