A month of silence, then a date
On August 18, the Senegalese Football Federation announced Patrick Vieira had been appointed to lead the Lions of Teranga. Since then, nothing. No news conference, no squad, no timetable. The federation has now finally set the date: the Frenchman will be introduced officially on Friday September 18 at 10.30 GMT, in the media room at Leopold Sedar Senghor Stadium in Dakar.
That is a full month between the announcement and the unveiling. It tells you plenty about how this one was stitched together behind closed doors, well away from the microphones.
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The first squad will follow straight away
The ceremony will also kick off the football side of things. Vieira will name his first squad on the day, with a busy international window ahead. Senegal have two 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers coming up: an away trip to Mozambique on Friday September 25 at Estadio Nacional do Zimpeto in Maputo, then another in Ethiopia on Tuesday September 29 at Bahir Dar Stadium in the Amhara region.
That will be followed by a friendly against the Comoros on Sunday October 4. The venue is a curious one: the Orange Velodrome in Marseille. So Senegal will end this run in France, in front of a diaspora that regularly packs stadiums across the country.
A job that has opened up fast
Vieira steps into an immediate challenge. Edouard Mendy announced his international retirement on Sunday. The goalkeeper will not be in this first squad, leaving the new coach to make a big call straight away in the most delicate position in the group.
A 1998 World Cup winner with France, and a man who has also been in the dugout at New York City FC, Vieira takes charge of a team used to playing a leading role on the continent. His first public appearance on Friday will be a proper test. An unveiling, a squad, and the pressure begins right there.
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