After a rather lukewarm start to the tournament, the African continent have something to smile about – Senegal made it to the Last 16 of the Fifa World Cup after they scored a hard-won 2-1 victory over Ecuador on Tuesday night.
This is two decades after making quarter-final history as World Cup debutants in Korea/Japan. They will now cross swords with England for a place in the quarterfinals. The Lions of Teranga have finished as runners-up in Group A, behind Netherlands, having won games against hosts Qatar and now Ecuador in what was a tense but thrilling match.
Hosts Qatar and Ecuador, who started the day in second place, are eliminated from the competition. Qatar’s record is worse than Bafana Bafana in 2010 when as hosts, they made history by being the first hosts to bomb out in the first round. Qatar went a level above by being the firsts host country not to record a single win.
There was an outcry after all the five countries that are representing Africa started the tournament on the wrong foot. The African sides were already written off after they all failed to win their first round of matches. Senegal was thumped 2-0 by the Netherlands in their opening game but they dusted themselves off and nailed Qatar 2-0 before registering Tuesday night’s win.
Senegal showed signs of their attacking prowess early on, with Ismaila Sarr working himself into a shooting position only to have his shot spun around the corner of the post. It was Sarr who would be presented with the perfect opportunity to open the scoring again when he was flattened in the box by Piero Hincapie.
From the spot, Sarr was the coolest player on the pitch, rooting goalkeeper Hernan Galindez to the spot. Midway through the second half, Aliou Cisse watched his side turn defensively motionless as Moises Caicedo temporarily put a stopper in Senegalese celebrations. A corner, tipped on by Felix Torres, found Caicedo completely unmarked in front of the Senegal goal; the midfielder presented with the easiest task to score.
However, it was the third dead ball scenario that would prove the decisive one. Idrissa Gueye’s corner kick was bundled around by a host of Ecuadorian bodies and resulted in Kalidou Koulibaly, storming in at the far post, swiping the ball past Galindez and sparking the most deafening of celebrations in the stands. Late pressure from Ecuador didn’t pay.
Senegal have never played England in any men’s football competition or friendly.
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