ACTUALITE |
23.06.2002
Senegal`s Lions fly out with heads held high
OSAKA
Senegal`s squad begun the journey home on Sunday with their heads held high after matching the best ever performance by an African side.
The Senegalese can expect a joyous welcome when they get back to Dakar, the capital of the West African state, but first came a long-planned friendly match in Taiwan.
With highly-rated Cameroon and Nigeria, as well as South Africa and Tunisia all crashing out at the group stage, Bruno Metsu`s largely French-based players were left alone to defend the continent`s honour in the knockout stage -- a task of no little importance given the continent`s aspirations to host the tournament in 2010.
A campaign that started with a bang in the form of a victory over the defending champions France, ended on Saturday night at the hands of a well-organised and talented Turkish side.p
The dream of becoming the first African side to reach the last four of the World Cup was shattered by Ilhan Mansiz`s golden goal four minutes into extra time.
But there were few regrets, either among the Senegal squad or back home.
Metsu, who looks set for a big-money move to Turkish club Gaziantep, said he was proud of the way his players acquitted themselves in Senegal`s first World Cup appearance.
"They performed heroically but we came up against a very good Turkish side and perhaps we did run out of steam a little," Metsu said.
"But we can be proud of what we have achieved. We have come here and shown that we were capable of upsetting the hierarchy of world football. It gives us a lot of hope for the future and the development of football in our country and in Africa."
For Senegal, the next goal is to win the next African Nations Cup in Tunisia in 2004. Metsu took the Lions of Teranga to the final of this year`s tournament in Mali, where they lost a penalty shoot out to Cameroon.
"When you have been through an adventure like the World Cup, it will be difficult to get back into African competitions. But the players are fighters and they are determined to win something," Metsu said.
Aliou Cisse, Senegal`s captain, said he had no regrets. "We gave everything we had for three weeks and we go home with many happy memories and a bright future in front of us."
Liverpool-bound striker El-Hadji Diouf added: "We arrived here small, but we are going home feeling like giants. At the end the gods of football were not with us but we lived up to our potential."
Back in Dakar, the Lions` exit was greeted with disappointed resignation.
"It is tough but it is not the end of the world," said Babacar Gueye, a security guard on the Place de l`Independance, the central square where huge crowds had gathered after each victory of the team in Korea and Japan.
The square was virtually deserted after the defeat by Turkey but a handful of supporters still managed to summon the energy to jump into cars and jeeps draped with the green, gold and red national flag for one last round of horn-honking celebrations.
"That is sport," said jeweller Youssou Toure. "We should not look on this as a defeat. For our first shot at the World Cup we have done very very well. We couldn`t really expect to win staight away.
"The next time perhaps."
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Hits: 1 | Source:Dailysoccer | |
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