Even with the penalty they kept drumming. Senegal’s fans had set up an entire orchestra of sabar drums at the Khalifa International Stadium, and one man had even brought a saxophone through security. What the vuvuzelas are for South Africa, the drums are for Senegal, there is drumming and dancing and in the city you can recognize real Senegal supporters by the fact that they sing their fan songs in two voices. Those who stick with Senegal will never lose their rhythm, especially when everything is at stake. And so Al-Ryyan’s air pounded as Ismaila Sarr ran for the penalty. He tripped briefly as if he were picking up the beat of the shots – and then the ball was in.
It was the prelude to Senegal’s 2-1 win over Ecuador and the longed-for place in the last 16 of the World Cup for the Africa Cup of Nations winners, who, as is well known, have to play without their best player. Sadio Mané from FC Bayern dropped out immediately before the tournament. Senegal didn’t even pretend they could replace him. Four years ago in Russia, coach Aliou Cissé’s team were eliminated in the group stage in the closest possible way: they lost to Japan on points and goals in the fair play classification, Cissé’s team had seen two yellow cards too many. “In the end we didn’t deserve it, that’s life,” said the coach at the time.
After the final whistle at the Khalifa Stadium, Cissé, who had been back in his distinctive gray joggers in the mixed zone, immediately disappeared into the catacombs while goalkeeper Edouard Mendy couldn’t stop hugging.
The situation was clear before the game: Senegal had to win to reach the round of 16. Cissé’s team started accordingly: In the third minute, Pape Gueye put it on Idrissa Gueye, and the attempt should have been possible. Five minutes later, Boulaye Dia should have scored too, but he too missed, as did Pathé Ciss and again Ismaila Sarr, whose performances at the World Cup mean that he will soon no longer be an English second division player.
Ecuador, who were able to play again with the battered top scorer Enner Valencia (three World Cup goals), did not come into play at all and could not show their physicality against Senegal as they could against the Netherlands and especially Qatar. The 1-0 at break after the Sarr penalty was deserved.
Cissé then sent his side back onto the field with a much more defensive stance. The plan initially seemed to work, but then Sarr of all people fell asleep after a corner kick: he canceled the offside, complained in vain, Moises Caicedo thanked him (68th minute). But Senegal countered in return, Kalidou Koulibaly, a defensive authority at Chelsea FC, also sank from a set piece just two minutes later.
Fifa exceptionally chooses the right player as “Man of the Match”
Ecuador launched a final offensive, and Koulibaly was the decisive man in that too. When Fifa made him “Man of the Match” after the game, they made the right choice for once. In the past, teams from Africa were often assumed – sometimes justified, often because of clichés – to have tactical deficits. This is definitely not the case for Cissé’s team. In the closing stages, when everything was at stake for them, Ecuador didn’t even have a real chance to score, the Senegalese defended so disciplined. Disappointment was still great, of course, with players weeping after it became clear they would not reach the round of 16, which they had every chance of after a convincing opening win against Qatar and a draw with the Netherlands.
Because the Netherlands easily won 2-0 against Qatar in the parallel game, Senegal moved into the round of 16 as group runners-up and met the winners of group B, possibly England. The West Africans achieved their best World Cup result in 2002, when they lost to Turkey in the quarter-finals. Whoever comes will have to deal with perhaps the best African team in years, even without Sadio Mané.