With a budget for the championship of around three million dollars, the country's football chiefs are determined to give their players, quarter-finalists at the last World Cup and with a famous win against holders France to boast of, as many incentives as possible.

But national coach Guy Stephan, who succeeded World Cup hero Bruno Metsu, is determined to keep his players' feet on the ground.

"Everyone in Europe has the impression that Senegal is a strong football country but this is not true," said Stephan.

"The country has around 10 million people. The pool of players of a high level is not unlimited here and in 23 Nations Cup tournaments, Senegal has played in just nine of them with a final appearance in 2002 and a semi-final in 1990 to show for it."

Stephan's caution is understandable - 2002 was a benchmark year for Senegal, their performance at the World Cup matching the previous best for an African side when Cameroon reached the last eight in 1990.

They had also lost to the Indomitable Lions in the African Nations Cup final earlier that year in Mali via a penalty shoot-out.

Those successes led to a mass emigration of leading players to Europe; of the 22 for this year's finals in Tunisia, 20 play in Europe.

"When I am in Senegal, I watch the satellite channels so I can watch the matches that concern me," said the Frenchman.

"In Europe, I try to see as many matches as possible. I would like to see the players more often."

If he can't see them play, he makes sure he telephones them at least once a month.

"That bothers me. It is impossible to review a match before the next meeting. Once a game has finished, the players go back to their clubs."

Senegal are in Group B in Tunisia and face Mali, Burkina Faso and Kenya in the first stage.

They start as tournament favourites along with Cameroon and Nigeria and can call on a wealth of talent, deployed largely in England and France, to see them through - in particular, the likes of Henri Camara (Wolves), El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool) and Lamine Sakho (Leeds) who are all plying their trade in the English Premiership.

"This team is capable of winning something - it's up to us to prove it," said midfielder Aliou Cisse.