ACTUALITE |
21.01.2002
Senegal defender Diatta delivers killer blow in Group of Death
BAMAKO
Defender Lamine Diatta succeeded where two of the best young strikers at the African Nations Cup failed by scoring the goal that gave Senegal a 1-0 win over Egypt Sunday in the opening Group D match.
The first clash in the Group of Death was billed as a showdown between Al-Hadji `Serial Killer` Diouf and Khaled `Bebo` al-Amin, but Diatta stole the show with 82 minutes gone.
Essam al-Hadary punched away the fifth Senegalese corner of a bruising battle and Diatta delicately headed the ball back over the goalkeeper, as well as several defenders, into the net.
Diouf, from French club Lens, wasted a glorious chance in the closing stages when his shot from inside the penalty area was blocked by Al-Hadary after he had broken clear.
Al-Amin, hat-trick hero when Cairo club Al-Ahly won the African Champions League last month, was virtually anonymous and came off 15 minutes from full-time.
The win was greeted with a mixture of delight and relief by Senegal`s French coach Bruno Metsu, who has attained hero status since successfully guiding the `Lions of Teranga` to this year`s World Cup.
"It was an extremely difficult victory against a very good Egypt side," Metsu said. "Winning the first match in our group is very important - it takes a bit of the pressure off in the remaining games."
For long periods it looked as if Egypt`s formidable defence, elegantly marshalled by veteran sweeper and skipper Hany Ramzy, would deny Senegal the goal they craved.
"They made it almost impossible for us with their defence," Metsu said admiringly. "They were so hard to break down."
Egypt captain Ramzy was distraught at the loss, and admitted the Pharaohs` Nations Cup hopes were now hanging in the balance.
"It was very disappointing to concede a goal from a corner at that late stage after we had defended and played so well," he said.
"We`ve made it harder for ourselves now. We`ve got a good chance to go through but we can`t afford any more mistakes," the Kaiserslautern libero added.
Senegal were deserved winners as they created more chances and applied considerable second-half pressure.
From the kick-off it was obvious this would not be a match of many goals before a capacity 30,000 crowd basking in clear, hot conditions at Modibo Keita Stadium.
Defences were on top and, when danger lurked, neither team hesitated to pull down opponents with the leniency of Moroccan referee Mohamed Guezzaz encouraging them.
He booked Tarek Said and Ahmed Hossam of Egypt and Moussa Ndiaye of Senegal, but several other culprits escaped censure after off-the-ball incidents.
Egypt lined up without star defender Ibrahim Said, who was reportedly sent home by coach Mahmoud al-Gohary for undisclosed disciplinary reasons, and injured striker Hossam Hassan.
Yet the dual absence of Said and Hassan did not appear to have ruffled the Egyptians too much, their defence adroitly snuffing out pressure whenever it arose.
But with the match heading for a draw, Senegal upped the tempo. And when the Lions were awarded a corner with time running out, Diatta popped up to break Egypt`s hearts.
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