OSAKA, Japan, 24 June — Senegal’s squad begun the journey home yesterday 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 honor 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-organized and talented Turkish side.
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.
