Senegal’s bid to further advance at the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in their debut tournament appearance came to an end following a 2-1 Round of 16 defeat by Spain at the Estadio de Haile Pinheiro in Goiania Brazil on Wednesday.
The Teranga Lions cubs’ exit marked the end of African teams’ participation in Brazil
The Teranga Lion cubs now follow home Cameroon , who failed to reach the
knockout phase of the tournament, as well as Angola and Nigeria , whose
campaigns similarly ended in the Round of 16.
Africa will now have no representation as the tournament reaches
the quarter-final stage.
Having been impressive in their first two group games, Senegal succumbed
to Roberto Navarro and German Valera’s goals in either half, while Souleymane
Faye’s late goal was too little, too late for the Africans.
The Senegalese started the encounter promisingly with Insa Boye and
Birame Diaw attempting shots at goal from outside the box inside the opening
six minutes.
Pape Sarr followed-up on the fine start but shot wide on 19 minutes as
Senegal resorted to long-range efforts.
But Spain proved some potency in front of goal with Navarro firing into
the bottom right corner to break the deadlock in the 27th minute, after
getting at the end of Pablo Moreno’s assist.
Navarro and Moreno were to be denied by Senegal goalkeeper Pape Dione
later on towards the half-time break.
Dione was back again six minutes after the interval to save Joseda’s
shot at goal.
The Africans did little to hit back and Valera added Spain’s advantage
with a left-footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner
just before the hour mark.
Guinea-born Spain midfielder Ilax Moriba Kourouma could have put
his side ahead further soon after but had a shot blocked and also missed with a
headed effort.
Cheikh Diouf then went close for Senegal with his head, narrowly
missing the target.
The young Teranga Lions then cut the deficit five minutes from time when
Faye finished Aliou Balde’s pass to give hopes of a successful comeback.
But Spain managed to hold on to their advantage until the final whistle
to mark the end of the road for Senegal.
