Historical Squad #2- Senegal 2002 FIFA World Cup
- Andrew Cheam
- Apr 4, 2020
- 5 min read
FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious football competition in the world. Most of the football team will definitely perform their best ever performance in this competition so that they will make their mark in this competition. This will create some underdog stories that are still memorable for all the football fans. In this article, we are going to witness the Senegalese national team that shocked the world in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Previous Record
Senegal was not a traditional strong footballing nation in Africa as they only been affiliated with FIFA since 1962 and CAF since 1963. They started to pick up the standard as they qualified for four of six African Cup of Nations in the 1990s. This is the early sign of the rise of Senegalese football in the world football horizon. They finally get their dream FIFA World Cup qualification in 2001 as they surpassed the likes of Morocco, Egypt and Algeria in the same group. In the 2002 edition of African Cup of Nations, the Senegalese recorded their best ever performance by reaching the final and lost to Cameroon on a penalty shootout. With these performances backing them, how will they announce their existence on the world stage in the 2002 FIFA World Cup tournament?
Tournament Squad
GK
Tony Sylla (Monaco), Omar Diallo (Olympique Khouribga), Kalidou Cissokho (ASC Jeanne d’Arc)
DF
Omar Daf (Sochaux), Pape Malick Diop (Lorient), Alassane N’Dour (Saint-Etienne), Aliou Cisse (Montpellier), Lamine DIatta (Rennes), Ferdinand Coly (Lens), Habib Beye (Strasbourg)
MF
Pape Sarr (Lens), Khalilou Fadiga (Auxerre), Amdy Faye (Auxerre), Moussa N’Diaye (Sedan), Salif Diao (Sedan), Papa Bouba Diop (Lens), Sylvain N’Diaye (Lille), Makhtar N’Diaye (Rennes)
FW
Henri Camara (Sedan), Amara Traore (Gueugnon), Souleymane Camara (Monaco), El Hadji Diouf (Lens), Pape Thiaw (Strasbourg)
Result
GS: France 0-1 Senegal
GS: Denmark 1-1 Senegal
GS: Senegal 3-3 Uruguay
R16: Sweden 1-2 Senegal (Senegal advance through Golden Ball)
QF: Senegal 0-1 Turkey (Senegal advance through Golden Ball)
Tournament Review
The first-ever FIFA World Cup match for the Senegalese coincided with the opening match of the whole tournament. Their opponent was the defending champion, France. This Senegalese team was very familiar with French football as most of their players played in the French league. However, they are still the underdogs on the books as this is still the French national team that had just won the previous three major tournaments (1998 FIFA World Cup, 2000 Euro and 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup) and with the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira on the squad. Well, this is what most of the football fans think.
The reality sometimes does not work based on our imagination and prediction. Despite all the talents and expectation on paper, it was Papa Bouba Diop’s strike on the half-hour mark that broke the deadlock. This goal had certainly boosted the confidence of the Senegalese as they had consistently challenged the French defence. A certain El Hadji Diouf had been the star of the night as he had been the threat for the French defence and caused some headache for the French national team. Their defence wasn’t weak either. They managed to keep a clean sheet despite the French team had 16 shots and 7 of them on target. When the full-time whistle has blown, the Senegalese was the one who celebrated on the night in Seoul.
Their second match was against Denmark who also won their first match in Daegu. Whoever claimed the victory in this match will surely advance to the knockout rounds. The Senegalese caught a scare when Jon Dahl Tomasson smashed past Tony Sylva in the 16th minute from the penalty spot. Fortunately, they had equalised through the goal from Salif Diao just minutes before the hour-mark. Despite their goalscorer had been sent off 10 minutes before the match ended, Senegal had managed to retain their hope to advance to the knockout round. Well, they still need to get past the next match and their next opponent wasn’t weak too.
The Senegalese will need to get past Uruguay in order to advance to the next round and all they need is just one point to advance. This Uruguay team isn’t weak either as their attacking line consists the like of Alvaro Recoba, Sebastian Abreu and a young Diego Forlan. However, it was Senegal who opened the goal-scoring account in this match at Suwon as Khalilou Fadiga converted the spot-kick from twelve-yard. A Papa Bouba Diop brace had extended the lead for Senegal and they had a three-goal lead on the half-time break. The Uruguayan struck back on the second half where Richard Morales, Diego Forlan and Alvaro Recoba scored within the 45 minutes. But it was too little too late for them as Senegal had advanced to the knockout round with this high scoring draw.
In the Round of 16, Senegal had drawn against the Henrik Larsson inspired Swedish side in Oita, Japan. The Swedes had an impressive tournament until this point too as they are the group leaders from the tough Group F which consists of England, Argentina and Nigeria. They had proved that they should be the one to watch by scoring the eleventh-minute goal from Henrik Larsson. The Senegalese responded by an equaliser from Henri Camara eight minutes before half time. On the second half, the Swedish national team used two substitution spot for two strikers to increase their attacking force, including a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But Senegal managed to hold the draw and extended the match to extra time. Both of the teams are performing their highest level of attacking football as they are desperate to be the first who put the ball into the opponent’s net. Seconds before the first half of the extra time, Henri Camara struck the ball into the Swedes’ net to ensure Senegal advanced to the Quarterfinals with the Golden ball rule. They have further created their own history.
Their opponent in the Quarterfinals was also the overachievers in the tournament, Turkey. This Turkish national team had widely known as the Golden generation and they had solidified this statement in this tournament. There are so many talents emerged in this national team in all position such as Rustu Recber, Alpay Ozalan, Tugay Kerimoglu, Hakan Sukur and Hasan Sas. Despite facing this strong Turkish side, this Senegal side will not give up without a fight. They had been retained a goalless draw within the 90 minutes regular match time. Once again, the match has to be decided in the extra time. However, the God of Golden goal didn’t bless this Senegal side as Ilhan Mansiz claimed the goal just four minutes after the extra time. It was a heartbroken night for the Senegalese in Osaka, but this whole team will be remembered for their achievements.
Verdict
This very tournament had certainly changed life for some Senegalese football players as they earned a major transfer to a bigger club even years after the tournament. The golden goal winner Henri Camara had several spells in England, El Hadji Diouf and Salif Diao earned their move to Liverpool, the opening day goalscorer Papa Bouba Diop had earned himself a move to Fulham too. In overall, this is a very successful team in their nation’s history and certainly one of the most memorable in the tournament’s history.
Comments