Cheikhou Kouyate has hailed Senegal for taking their chances in their ‘unbelievable’ 2-1 World Cup Group H victory over Poland.
An own-goal by Thiago Cionek and a M’Baye Niang finish secured all three points in Tuesday’s contest, with Poland grabbing a late consolation via Grzegorz Krychowiak.
The victory puts Senegal second in Group H after the opening round of fixtures, and Kouyate is thrilled with the perfect start for his side.
“This is the World Cup!” Kouyate said to whufc.com. “You have to take every chance, and today Senegal took the chance we were given.
This is the World Cup! You have to take every chance. It was unbelievable to get the win.
Cheikhou Kouyate
“It was unbelievable to get the win. As a team, we played a very hard game against Poland, and today we were able to do the job.”
The 28-year-old is now focusing on Senegal’s next fixture, a contest with Japan on Sunday, as The Lions of Teranga look to qualify for the World Cup knock-out stages for the second time in their history.
“It’s not finished,” Kouyate continued. “All games are hard and we just want to continue in the World Cup.
“We have a day’s rest on Wednesday and then we will go again. We have another tough game, against Japan. It will be a tough game and we need to take points to continue our journey.”
Kouyate came on the 87th minute for Senegal, helping the team to see out the result, and the midfielder indicated his absence from the starting XI was down to a minor fitness issue.
The Hammer however is confident of being back in the team for the Japan contest at the end of the week.
Kouyate added: “I need to be 100% fit, which is why I didn’t start today. I think maybe next game I will be fit and able to play.”