The Chelsea striker opened his account in the Senegal National Team for his seventeenth selection, this Friday evening. Deliverance for a player who is establishing himself as the star center forward of the Lions.
So it wasn’t a bad idea to do the questioning a few hours before the meeting. Nicolas Jackson (23 years old) will have waited for his seventeenth appearance with the Senegal National Team to open his goal counter with the Lions. And we even had to wait until the last quarter of an hour of play for the Chelsea striker to shake the net at the Stade Abdoulaye-Wade, to contribute to the celebration of Pape Thiaw’s men, 4-0 winners against Malawi for the 3rd day of qualifying for the next African Cup of Nations.
🤔 Will Nicolas Jackson finally score his first goal with the lions tonight ⁉️ 🇸🇳 🇲🇼 #wiwsport #bummer #senegal #QCAN2025 pic.twitter.com/dMPvWT9tMW
— wiwsport (@wiwsport) October 11, 2024
Almost two years of waiting
A goal in the Jackson style, full of energy and determination. Ideally served by Idrissa Gueye, who entered the game in the second half, the former Casa Sports player fixes three Malawian defenders, finds space between two opposing players and deceives a George Chokooba far from being free from any reproach in his intervention (77th). Enough to provoke a vibrant celebration of number 7 of the Lions with his partners. Enough to also unlock the counter in the National Team, therefore, a little less than two years after his debut under the leadership of Aliou Cissé.
It was November 21, 2022, during the first day of the World Cup in Qatar against the Netherlands (0-2 defeat). At the time, Nicolas Jackson was emerging in the Spanish LaLiga under the Villarreal jersey, to the point of arousing the desire of many clubs. From a hip injury, which aborted his transfer to Bournemouth, he had an excellent end to the season in Spain with the Yellow Submarine, and then attracted the attention of the Chelsea Blues who did not hesitate to pose the tidy sum of €37 million to secure his services in the summer of 2023.
With a first season of 17 goals and 6 assists in England and a good start to the 2024-2025 season (4 goals, 3 assists in 8 games), Jackson began to gradually become the starting player. the forefront of the Lions’ attack, especially after the CAN in Ivory Coast. But if this match against Malawi will have once again highlighted some of his good qualities and will have allowed him to connect with his partners, we must admit that it was better for him to find the fault in this match. Because a few minutes after hitting the pitch, Boulaye Dia, one of his biggest competitors, scored his seventh goal for the selection.
“There is a good connection”
However, even before his goal, Nico looked good in his game. Often found by Moussa Niakhaté’s superb deep passes, he sometimes made the difference to serve his partners, such as the expulsion of the Malawian goalkeeper caused by Sadio Mané and the opening score. Rewarded by his efforts and his generosity, he therefore waited for the right moment and this offering from Idrissa Gueye to shake the nets and unlock confidence. Pape Thiaw made no mistake and wanted to give Jackson a little shower of compliments by making him leave shortly after his goal, to loud applause from the Abdoulaye-Wade Stadium.
The joy and rage of Nicolas Jackson after his first goal for the Senegal national team. ⚽️✅🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/TZPg6i0vto
— Equipe du Sénégal (@GaindeYi) October 12, 2024
“I’m very happy for my first goal. I hope many more will follow. Malawi played in a very low block. So I had to go down a little to get the ball. We circulated the ball well, which helped us score these four goals. I played together with Boulaye Dia at Villarreal, there is a good connection”declared the Chelsea player in the mixed zone. Now, it will be a question for Nicolas Jackson to continue on Tuesday in Lilongwe, against the same Malawian team, to strengthen the confidence of the supporters and the staff in order to establish himself as the potential holder among the Lions, where the competition is tough to this position. Obviously, he has the qualities.
wiwsport.com
