SEATTLE (AP) — For 85 minutes, Senegal had the run of play. The African team held a two-goal lead, and had all but secured a spot in the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Within 5 minutes, it crumbled.
“We were at the heart of writing the beautiful pages of the history of our football in this world,” defender Krépin Diatta said. “And, we have to accept that we failed at our mission.”
Late goals by Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans tied the score in the final
minutes of regulation time, and Tielemans completed Belgium’s 3-2 comeback win by converting a penalty just before the end of extra time.
The Lions of Teranga would have been the second African team in the tournament to advance to the round of 16. Morocco, one of nine African teams which reached the knockout round, already advanced with a penalty shootout victory against the Netherlands on Monday.
But now, Senegal is shockingly headed home.
“We’re disappointed," Senegal midfieder Habib Diarra said. "We had a good first half, but it wasn’t enough. A match lasts 90 minutes, and we’re devastated. It’s very tough. I don’t know what to say. When you’re on the pitch, you have to give your all, and that’s not what we did. We’ve only got ourselves to blame.”
Senegal advanced to the World Cup knockout phase as one of the best third-place finishers after losing to France and Norway and beating Iraq. It survived one of the toughest groups in the tournament, and looked the part of one of the stronger teams in the World Cup most of the afternoon against Belgium.
Lukaku’s late goal injected life into Belgium, though, and kept the Group G winners on life support before the referee awarded Belgium a penalty deep into extra time. Senegal's players protested the decision, but to no avail.
Diatta gave credit to Belgium for turning the game around, but said Senegal shouldn't have let it happen.
“They (did) the job and they proved they can come back. I think the problem was our side,” Diatta said. “We had to win this game. These kinds of tight games in the box, we have to give everything and not give them a chance.”
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