Senegal became the first African team to win at this year’s Fifa World Cup, defeating Poland 2-1 on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ Time) on a first-half own-goal and a controversial second-half strike by Mbaye Niang.
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Poland midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak played the ball back from inside the Senegal half but the defence failed to notice that M’Baye Niang, who had been on the touchline receiving treatment, had re-entered the field.
Poland and Senegal round off the first round of World Cup group fixtures on Tuesday evening as both sides look to make a positive start to Group H. “Humility is very important for this team”, he said. “I felt there was something on and was able to get in there and score”.
“We have prepared in an optimal way to play the first game”, he said.
The coach of Poland, Adam Nawalka, was “surprised” at the circumstances that led to Senegal’s decisive second goal in Wednesday’s Group H clash.
Sixteen years after their first and only appearance to date, the Lions of Teranga are back on the World Cup stage after finishing their qualifying group ahead of South Africa, Cap Verde Islands and Burkina Faso. Subscribe to our SMS sports service by texting “SPORTS” to 22840.
Cisse said Liverpool’s Mane, fresh from scoring 10 goals in the Champions League, was already among the elite strikers at football’s showpiece in Russian Federation. “You should give credit for that”. “We’ve played our way into this and now we need to turn things around, fight and progress”.
Senegal players celebrating.They became the first African team to win a match in Russian Federation. None has done better than that.
“Statistically we had more of the ball but what counts is what ends up in the net”.
Morocco faces a tough task against Portugal and Spain in Group B. Nigeria has to play Argentina and resilient Iceland in Group D. Tunisia has the more manageable Panama but a tough match against Belgium in Group G. Egypt’s second-match loss to Russian Federation severely compromised its chances of getting out of Group A.
“The scale of his talent is huge, supported by a lot of hard work”, he said. “They’ve worked hard. I think this is really a generation that deserves a lot of credit and respect”.
Poland grabbed a late consolation as Krychowiak atoned for his earlier error by heading home in the 86th minute, however Senegal held on. Niang beat Szczesny to the ball and shot into an empty net. “I sensed something might be on and managed to nip in and score”.
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Coach Aliou Cisse is proud of his players while claiming the whole of Africa is rooting for Senegal.
