England eliminates Senegal, and gives an appointment to the Blues in quarter

A duel between neighbors who know each other well, but an unprecedented poster at this level of the competition. The Blues, convincing winners of Poland (3-1), will rub shoulders with the English, Saturday, December 10 (8 p.m., metropolitan time), for a place in the last four of the World Cup in Qatar. On Sunday December 4, a solid and realistic England got the better of Senegal in the round of 16 of the World Cup (3-0), and made an appointment with France. If the first match between the two nations dates back to 1906, they have never faced each other in the elimination match of a major competition.

In the stadium of Al-Bayt, in the north of the country, a Bedouin tent resounding to the sounds of Senegalese drums, the Lions of Teranga started better than the English. Inspired, perhaps, by their coach, Aliou Cissé, feverish for a few days, the teammates of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy tried to ignite the game. “The African teams have sent a strong message, Cameroon can beat Brazil and Tunisia can beat France. In our head we say that Senegal will beat England “warned the assistant coach of Senegal, Régis Bogaert, Saturday at a press conference.

On the initiative, behind the revelation Iliman Ndiaye, Aliou Cissé’s players tried to take the English defense from behind. In this first period, Boulaye Dia weighs on the cages of Jordan Pickford. With a firm hand, the English goalkeeper intervened against the Senegalese striker, but had to raise his voice against his often wait-and-see defence. If England seems to be in his hand at the start of the meeting, Harry Maguire’s partners are not reassuring in the face of attacks from the African champions – orphans of Sadio Mané for the competition, and Idrissa Gueye for the meeting.

Harry Kane finds the target

But the English, if not brilliant, have resources. Is it the Qatar desert that inspires them? Because there is scorpion in this team. After hunkering down, Gareth Southgate’s men deploy their attack, and sting, following a school counter-attack. Launched in depth, Jude Bellingham ideally serves Jordan Henderson, who pierces Edouard Mendy (1-0, 38^e).

A little naive in defense, the Senegalese can blame themselves for not having taken advantage of their opportunities before. Groggy, they repeatedly dodge the K.-O. at the end of the first period, Harry Kane still failing to frame his strikes. Mute in front of goal since the start of the competition – with three assists all the same –, the English captain ends up unlocking his counter in additional time (2-0, 45 + 3^e). And knock out the Teranga Lions.

Unlike some media at home, England did not take their opponent lightly. “Several big nations have already been knocked out in Qatar, with Germany, Uruguay and Belgium among those returning homeobserved coach Gareth Southgate on Saturday. In order not to follow them quickly at home, it will be necessary to find a higher level of performance to fight against the intensity and the physique of Senegal. »

England are on the rise

His players have rather made it easy. In a second period where everything decreased in intensity – including the atmosphere, despite many English fans present – ​​the Three Lions added a third stone to the Senegalese garden. Served by Phil Foden in a deserted surface of his defense, Bukayo Saka worsened the mark (3-0, 57^e).

For Senegal, their coach’s Saturday night fever did not lead to a frenzied game on Sunday. On the contrary, Kalidou Koulibaly’s partners were sometimes crossed by drafts, over the opposing counter-attacks in the second half. However, the Senegalese captain had rounded up the troops after their victory against Ecuador, confirming the qualification of the country for the final phase, twenty years after the fallers of the Blues at the 2002 World Cup. I remobilized the players: “OK, that’s good, but it’s not an end in itself.” We want to play England to pass the turn, related the Senegalese captain, in The Team. Collectively, we are a good team, even if individually, they will be favourites. But Senegal is never stronger than back to the wall. » If they started well, his partners finally hit the English wall, and returned home after a frustrating game.

In this feline duel, the Three Lions facing the Lions of Teranga – but the heads of the English lions being face on their coat of arms, it is “leopards”, in heraldry –, only one team roared. Like Harry Kane, finally scorer after a group stage without scoring, the English are gaining momentum. If they have not yet removed all doubts about their level, the finalists of the last Euro will be a tough opponent for Kylian Mbappé’s teammates. Before seeing his supporters sing loudly “It’s Coming Home” (“Football is coming home”), taken from their anthem Three Lions, the country where the round ball was invented will have to meet the holders of the world title. A tantalizing first.