The Joan of Arc of Dakar created a sensation this weekend, recording a first victory in the African Club Championship. Last minute guest, the “Old Lady” defeated Asb Makomeno of the DRC (57-34), this Saturday at the Marius Ndiaye Stadium.
With less than 48 hours to put together a team, the Senegalese vice-champions of the 2023 season were able to count on the collective of the past season with players like Mbarka Diop (18 pts), top scorer, Ndèye Yacine Fall (14 pts) or one of the Senegalese recruits and captain, Oumou Kalsoum Touré (8 pts).
Preselected by Asc Ville de Dakar for the competition, before being skipped from the list of 12 by coach Tapha, the former Lionesses pivot did not hesitate to seize the opportunity offered by his training club.
“It wasn’t easy to put together a team and win the first match, when we only had 48 hours to prepare. We didn’t even know each other. We therefore had to have the mentality since we could not set up a game system. I congratulate the players for their determination and their commitment,” said Oumou Kalsoum Touré. At 36, she wants to take full advantage of the opportunity offered to her by the “Old Lady”, without any revenge in mind. “It’s true that I was not selected by Asc Ville de Dakar, but there is no revenge to take. There are sporting choices that we must respect. Now there was this opportunity to play for Jeanne d’Arc, my training club, and I took this chance. We’ll see how far we can go in this competition.”
-Same story from his coach, Anthioumane Ly, aware of the enormous task that awaits them, in the absence of preparation. “I salute the sacrifices made by the managers, the players and the technical staff. We didn’t even prepare. We are here to learn and try to meet the challenge of participation. We won our first match, we will prepare for the second by trying to put some strategies in place. But as I said, we are not at the same level as the other teams who had more preparation time than us,” said the Senegalese technician.
For the next outing, this Monday (6 p.m. GMT), Joan of Arc will face the Mozambican team Ferroviario who beat Rwanda’s Apr by four points (78-74) this Saturday.
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