Senegal national team moved to Ecuador

The final round of the tournament in group A of the World Cup in Qatar brought tickets to the playoffs for the teams of the Netherlands and Senegal. The Dutch retained leadership in the group, calmly – 2:0 – defeating the outsiders of the Qataris. The Senegalese jumped from third to second, defeating the Ecuadorians, who looked very promising at the start of the championship, but suddenly lost all their best qualities in the decisive match.

It was not difficult to imagine what emotions tormented the Ecuadorian fans gathered in the stands of Khalifa International, what they thought about, seeing what was happening in the most important match for their team. Yet it must not be so! Where did the density that the Ecuadorian team hit in games against the Qataris and even the Dutch go? Did she disappear with disqualified defensive midfielder Jegson Mendez? Can this be? Or did the Ecuadorian players forget that they should not lose, otherwise the well-deserved ticket to the play-offs that had just seemed absolutely fair, their own game, would float into Senegalese hands, and decided that it was possible to play this match like this, carelessly, without giving a damn about discipline?

What if the Senegalese somehow in the decisive meeting called for help the spirit – in a set with skill – so inopportunely for them injured Sadio Mane? Although no, if he had been with them, Idrissa Geye and Boulaye Dia would not have missed in those situations when the Ecuadorian gates were shot. The positions were deadly. At least one of the two moments of Mane would definitely have realized.

But in any case, trailing by a point from the leaders of the group of Ecuadorians and the Dutch, and therefore in need of a victory, the Senegal national team gave the impression of a team that knew how to get a victory. And to hell with them, with the misses of Geye and Dia.

In the end, with such a sloppy opponent, giving you so much free space, there will still be chances. What’s really there, the Ecuador national team, which managed to charm many, this evening did not give the impression of a team that knew at least how to get a draw that suited it quite well.

And, of course, neither one nor the other could count on the help of the Dutch. To understand what the alignment is in the Al Bayt arena, it was not necessary to watch their meeting with outsiders Qataris. It was enough to look at a heat map showing which parts of the field have the most events: some advanced resources draw such. So, in the middle of the first half, the Qatari half was almost completely painted over with a greasy spot, while there were several small spots on the Dutch half. Yes, not even spots, but rather dots.

Another thing is that the goal matured for quite a long time, but it ripened in the end, when Cody Gakpo, having received the ball, calmly struck from a dozen and a half meters. Before this championship, few people guessed that this tall guy would turn into the brightest character in the Netherlands national team, into her lifesaver. Meanwhile, he managed to excel in each of the matches of the tournament, getting into a wonderful company. There have only been three players in the history of the Dutch team who have managed to score in three World Cup matches in a row, and all of these are names very familiar to anyone who loves football. In 1974, the series was published by Johan Neskens, in 1994 by Dennis Bergkamp, ​​and in 2010 by Wesley Sneijder. With Neskens and Sneijder, the Dutch reached the finals of the championship. And now how not to believe the news that Gakpo is about to offer a great contract to Manchester United?

The Senegal national team also found its happiness – already before the break. Still reliable Piero Incapie, as if succumbing to a general panic and confusing football with rugby, crashed into Ismaila Sarra in the penalty area. Referee Clement Turpin did not check the episode with VAR – everything was obvious anyway. The penalty kick was taken by Sarr himself and was amazingly cold-blooded: he paused, laid down goalkeeper Hernan Galindes.

Ecuadorian coach Gustavo Alfaro returned his team to the game with radical measures.

As if realizing that the personnel tested that day were not ready, he sent young people to the field – José Sifuentes, Jeremy Sarmiento, Djorcaeff Reasco. None of them has yet been perceived as a player for the base, for big battles. But how and by whom else could Alfaro try to turn the course of this match, pushing the Ecuadorians into the abyss?

And his replacements worked. The Ecuador national team in the second half was already like itself on its best days. Distantly, but it looked like it. Still more energy, productivity from scorer Enner Valencia, but it seems that after the injury in the match with the Dutch, he did not pull. And the Ecuadorians nevertheless built a goal, earning a corner and waiting for an amazing mistake from the Senegalese. The penalty area was stuffed with them, but when the ball after the discount flew to Moises Caicedo, the gigantic area around him was empty.

The Senegal national team corrected their mistake quickly, in a couple of minutes – and also from the standard. The rebound played into the hands of the Senegalese, after which the ball went to Kalid Koulibaly. It was scary to look at the faces of the Ecuadorian fans in those seconds when Koulibaly and his partners celebrated their luck: everything went so well…

Meanwhile, Qatar coach Felix Sanchez threw a bottle of water on the ground in a rage.

After the break, the Qataris missed again – from Frenkie de Jong, who played on finishing moves, and Sanchez madly wanted his team to leave the home championship with their heads, if not raised high, then at least not bashfully lowered. He demanded from his players to climb forward, especially since the Dutch, who had calmed down, did not particularly mind. They climbed, but something did not grow together all the time. And it was the Dutch who were close to their third goal, for example, when Steven Berghuis fired at the crossbar, and not the Qataris to their first.

The Ecuadorians, on the other hand, pressed desperately, but somehow stupidly. Mostly through long throws of the ball. Quickly rebuilt by coach Aliou Cisse in order to keep the reserve, the Senegal national team, which switched to a scheme with four defenders and five midfielders, clicked them like seeds. And Edouard Mendy in her gate was good, literally exuding confidence in the future.

The future is coming soon. For the Senegalese, it was filled with sunshine, for the Ecuadorians, with tears. Of them, who fell face down on the lawn after the final whistle, they poured not like a stream, but like real waterfalls.

The rivals of the Netherlands and Senegal teams in the 1/8 finals were decided late in the evening Moscow time after the end of the final round matches in group B, in which everything was even more confused, and no one lost their chances to break into the playoffs. The British played with the Welsh, the Iranians with the Americans.

Alexey Dospekhov