Andy Hunter was there to see it in at the Khalifa International Stadium.
They won this one for the Bouba.
#SEN players dedicate their triumph to Papa Bouba Diop. The midfielder who scored their iconic winner vs France in 2002. He passed away two years ago, aged 42. Emotional moment. pic.twitter.com/37MyZaJuAS
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) November 29, 2022
Here’s the report from Group A’s other game, from Jamie Jackson.
Senegal are motoring on, a job well done from them and the excellent Aliou Cissé.
Beep Beep! 🛵
— Football Senegal (@FootballSenegal) November 29, 2022
En route vers les 16e de finale.
On route to the round of 16.
2 🇸🇳 VS 🇪🇨 1#SenEcu #Senegal #FIFAWorldCupQatar2022 @FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/mQ8VjjFWWm
The Dutch top thee group, with Cody Gakpo continuing his form.
Here’s the final standings.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Holland | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 2 | Senegal | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Ecuador | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Qatar | 3 | -6 | 0 |
Full-time: Ecuador 1-2 Senegal
A flush of second-half goals decided it in the favour of Senegal, who make the last 16 for the first time in 20 years. The African champions, even if they will be without Idrissa Gueye and Sadio Mané, are going to be tough opponents for England should they win Group B. Ecuador flop to the floor, the promise of the opening match long gone, with Enner Valencia unable to revive himself one last time. It was a match Piero Hincapie may wish to forget, too.
90-6 min: All down to this minute now, and whatever is added on to that. Senegal holding the line, and the ball is sent to the back post, where there’s a collision. Sabaly takes an overhead kick to the face, and screams in pain. That will delay things…but not for long….Senegal have done it.
90+5 min: Senegal make a sub. Dia off, and Cisse, a defender on. Caicedo shunts Dia off.
90+4 min: All Ecuador, piling forward. Mendy looks nervous on the launched ball. Perozo helps it on, and the ball goes beyond Hincapie.
90+3 min: Mendy flaps like a bird at that corner. He knocks it behind wholly unconvincingly.
90+2 min: Sarmiento skids on and Ecuador gain territory. They have to settle for a throw, and have a corner. Will the keeper come up? Not yet.
90 min: Senegal, even without Idrissa Gueye, and Sadio Mané are not going to be easy to face for the winning team from Group B – likely England.
Only six minutes added on. Have Fifa lost their bottle on time added on? Had TV execs on the line?
88 min: Ecuador seem to have lost their patterns of play. And with Valencia a passenger, they don’t seem to have much of a route to goal. Caicedo scored their first World Cup finals goal from someone other than Valencia since 2006.
86 min: Plata’s free-kick towards the head of the new man is no good. Senegal are good in the air, and that is meat and drink for them.
85 min: Mendy has done a decent job in locking down that midfield and then plays a decent pass out to the right. Off goes Preciado, and on comes Porozo, a centre-half, who will form part of a defensive trio and then be a target for getting it launched.
84 min: Valencia springs into life, and has got beyond Diallo who runs across and clotheslines him. And yet Betty Turpin is not having it, and waves play on.
82 min: Dia gets chance to spin and shoot on goal, just wide. Another goal would do just fine for the nerves.
80 min: Into the crucial hours we go, plus added time. Senegal in 4-5-1, trying their best to hold off the attack of the Ecuadorians.
78 min: Senegal would like to lock it down, but they aren’t being too successful. Feels like Ecuador have something more in them, if Valencia is probably not fit enough to be out there.
76 min: Nampalys Mendy of Leicester is one of the Senegalese subs who has just come on, with Bamba Dieng of Marseille. Their job now is to lock matters down.
75 min: Sarmiento, his Brighton colleague Caicedo having scored before, can only hit the ball straight at Mendy.
72 min: What a game this has turned into. Ecuador fans, in their bright colours, are in dark moods. Just two minutes and 30 seconds between goals. The same time was crucial in Cameroon v Serbia – twice over.
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Goal! Ecuador 1-2 Senegal (Koulibaly, 70)
Wow, a free-kick from the right comes off Hincapie, and to the captain who jabs home. That one was for Bouba and Senegal are going through now!
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69 min: AS IT STANDS: Ecuador are going through, and suddenly Senegal are playing hurry-up offence.
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Goal! Ecuador 1-1 Senegal (Caicedo, 68)
And from nothing, a set piece. The ball is pinged in and Caicedo receives flick on, and the man on the line plays him onside. Feels like Eduoard Mendy’s first job of the day is to pick the ball from the back of the net. Sabaly was the guilty party in not running from the line.
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66 min: Idrissa Gueye is booked for clattering in. He’s aghast, and that means he will miss the last-16 match. And that match was supposed to be his 100th cap. Oh no, he’s a poor lad.
64 min: Reasco’s first touch is to smash into Koulibaly with intent. Rather admirable bravery from the Newell’s man.
63 min: Ecuador hurriedly clear a free-kick bombed into their box. Plata, after running into a Senegalese defender, falls to the floor.
Another Ecuador sub: off goes Estrada, and on comes Djorkaeff Reasco, whose dad played at the 2006 World Cup.
62 min: Sarr found offside, and there’s not been to many of those, with both teams playing quite deep.
61 min: It’s getting scrappy, and Senegal are taking their time over things. Double figures of time to be added on? It can’t be ruled out. Idrissa Gueye whips in a free-kick that is cleared away.
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59 min: Luke Jones asks: “Given all the issues about the OneLove armband, is there a reason Koulibaly can wear his own unique armband without any punishment?”
Not even Fifa could….could they?
58 min: The aforementioned Sarmiento continues to look dangerous and his cross causes problems for the Senegal defence.
57 min: Tony Mason is thinking ahead.
Hi John: Three options for the 2nd round for England.
We win the group and play Senegal. Having never lost to an African side that is the preference.
We finish second and play the Dutch. The last time we played them in a WC it was 0-0 though Pearce scored directly from an indirect free-kick. (1990?)
Wales win 4-0.
55 min: On Jeremy Sarmiento, from our player interactive.
Despite having Spanish and English nationality, Sarmiento has never renounced his Ecuadorian roots. The 20-year-old attacker may have worn the shirts of the Spanish and England teams when he was young but his heart was inclined towards the Tricolor flag. A video game lover, the Brighton winger made his debut for the Ecuador team in October 2021, in a qualifier against Bolivia. Before being called up to Ecuador’s senior team, he had a bad experience at under-15 level, where the doors were closed to him. Despite that disappointment, Sarmiento never lost his ambition of playing for Ecuador.
53 min: Preciado, recovered from his first-half knock, makes progress down the right, and then gets the ball over. It’s cleared but Ecuador are the better team at the moment.
51 min: Sabaly on the end of one, and falls a little heavily to the floor. The theatrics are in full flow now, this is no dress rehearsal.
50 min: Free-kick to Ecuador but it’s launched into the Senegalese area, where there is plenty of muscle to deal with the ball.
Latest: Qatar 0-2 Netherlands
Frenkie de Jong’s goal means it’s all on this game for both teams. It always was, in truth.
48 min: Sarmiento pushing up for Ecuador who need to try and alter the momentum of a first half where they spent their time on the back foot.
46 min: Two Ecuador changes, who need to find a goal. Brighton’s Sarmiento comes on with Alan Franco.
⏰ 45’ ¡Doble cambio en #LaTri!
— La Tri 🇪🇨 (@LaTri) November 29, 2022
➡️ Jeremy Sarmiento
⬅️ Alan Franco
➡️ José Cifuentes
⬅️ Carlos Gruezo
🤜🤛 #ECU 0🆚 1 #SEN
🏟 Estadio Internacional Jalifa
🗓 Fecha # 3
🏆 #FIFAWorldCup #HaremosHistoria🇪🇨 pic.twitter.com/e9bhiAcm6v
The emails have flooded in:
Charles Antaki: “I did wonder whether this would ever become relevant, somehow, in a game involving Ecuador: in Spanish, hincapie means something like emphatically putting your foot down. Not necessarily correctly.”
Joe Pearson: “I learn something new every MBM. Now I know a little (very little) about the British soap opera Coronation Street.”
Richard Hirst: “As a Fulham supporter, your reference to a Papa Boupa Diop armband has clinched my support for Senegal. A legend: and surely an opportunity to show his goal against Man Utd…..On my patent ‘which team is doing better ometer’, which takes attempts on and off target, plus corners minus fouls, Senegal are at 11 and Ecuador at minus 9. Seems pretty conclusive.”
John Johnson: “Also married crazy Ecuadorian woman. Still married. Still crazy. 32 years of crazy...”
Mark J van Raaij: “Hincapie wouldn’t be the first Colombian Ecuador fielded...after Byron Castillo...”
Half-time: Ecuador 0-1 Senegal
Ismaila Sarr is the man making the difference in winning then converting the penalty. Senegal are going through and Ecuador need to revive themselves in the same fashion they found against the Dutch.
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45+5 min: Senegal continue to push on, though Sarr is down on the floor, having taken a kick to the inside of his knee.
45+3 min: There’s some aggro here…Sibaly and Valencia get involved and Valencia falls to the floor like he’s been shot. Referee Clement “Betty” Turpin has seen it all before, and waves them on like schoolboys.
45+2 min: Senegal want another, with Sarr flushed with confidence. They also are slowing it down.
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45+1 min: It is put to me that Sarr’s celebration is to “put his hands over his eyes and then his finger to his temple”. Any ideas why out there?
45 min: What a blow to Ecuador, and Sarr was equal to the task. Five minutes is added on at the end of this half. The better team is ahead.
Goal! Ecuador 0-1 Senegal (Sarr, 44 pen)
There’s a dispute over who will take, but it eventually falls to the Watford man. He’s cool after a lengthy delay, in which Galindez plays for time. He steps up, gives it the eyebrows and sends it home. As is the way, all the subs join in the celeb.
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Penalty to Senegal!
Sarr speeds through, and then Hincapie ploughs into him. The tell-tale wag of the finger shows he knows he is guilty. It’s a stick on.
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40 min: The Senegalese fans behind the dugouts are quite a sight to behold. That can’t be making Gustavo Alfaro’s job any easier. “Compacto,” he bellows. That means ‘compact’, we are told by the admirable ITV duo of Seb Hutchinson and Andros Townsend.
38 min: Nice play from Sabaly as he speeds from right back into the Ecuadorian box. There’s panic stations before it’s cleared. Caicedo goes down, under a challenge from Sarr and time will be taken.
37 min: Cis heads over from a free-kick dinked into the box. He really should have done better and his grimace reflects that.
35 min: A worry for Galindez as he has to slide across to save a scooped pass from the depths of the Senegalese defence.
33 min: Koulibaly steps ahead of a ball aimed at Estupinan on the left but Ecuador are looking far more calm now. Koulibaly, wearing an armband dedicated to Papa Bouba Diop, also clatters in Valencia’s knee and that might be significant.
31 min: Senegal not quite finding the space they did in the early stages. Ecuador look to have calmed themselves down. That barrage of drums was probably quite a lot to deal with.
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29 min: There’s been a goal in the other game. Cody Gakpo has put the Dutch 1-0 up on Qatar. In many ways, that doesn’t change Senegal and Ecuador’s task for the evening
27 min: Koulibaly, who’s not been kept too busy so far in the Senegal defence, comes across to block an Estrada shot.
25 min: “Is Piero Hincapie by any chance related to George Hincapie, the US cyclist? I think we should be told,” asks Richard Hirst.
This lad? Seems unlikely. George’s father was Colombian.
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24 min: Ecuador continue to be pressed back but do seem to be a bit more organised. That said, Sarr cuts in from the left, and on his right foot bends the ball wide of the post.
22 min: Preciado will, er, press on.
20 min: Karl Gibbons gets in touch: “As much as ITV’s coverage has been surprisingly good at this HRWC, it baffles me that they have gone with Netherlands v Qatar as the game of choice with, effectively, nothing riding on it. Thank goodness I have your good self to cover of the one that counts!
Come on Ecuador! (Supporting them because my friend had to marry a crazy Ecuadorian for visa reasons and it all ended very acrimoniously. He went for a holiday and came back with a fiancé – be careful kids!) Thanks for all the Guardian coverage to date – you guys rock!”
(It’s on ITV4 and yes, ITV have been very good in this tournament.)
19 min: Preciado goes down under a Sarr foul, and looks in some pain. There’s a possibility it’s timewasting, but that’s a lot of time to waste and refs are adding on any breaks in play. It looks like he’s got a lower leg issue, and can’t put weight on it.
18 min: Idrissa Gueye in his free role forces a corner, one that Galindez does well with, and sets up an attack, where Valencia leads the charge though runs out of support.
16 min: Aliou Cisse is off the bench and barking instructions. His tactics have been pretty useful so far, with Ecuador really struggling to live with Senegal.
15 min: Sarr, down the inside-left channel, a talented player, slots in Pape Gueye but the ball ends up with the Ecuadorian goalie.
13 min: Ndiaye, of Sheffield United no less, blams one wide.
Paul Haynes emails in: “Is there an error on the team-sheet? Surely Senegal’s number 24 Moustapha Name?”
This is They Think It’s All Over, Paul.
11 min: Valencia goes for glory from distance, the shot comes out from his free-kick and he has another swing. When your eye’s in, it’s in. Though maybe not this time, and Senegal escape on the counter. Preciado has to smash behind. It’s breathless stuff, knockout football before the knockouts.
Photograph: Dave Shopland/REX/Shutterstock
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10 min: Senegal’s turn to wobble. A misplaced pass almost puts Valencia through. Gueye commits a foul, and needs to be careful; he’s on a yellow.
9 min: Dia drags one wide, that Ecuador defence comes asunder once more after Idrissa Gueye skates through. An agonising miss.
8 min: Valencia gets a sniff and looks lively enough as Senegal’s defenders seem to lose the ball in the stadium lights. The danger is cleared – just.
6 min: Senegal are the team on it here. They have to take advantage of this ascendancy.
4 min: Ecuador are playing a very high line and Galindez, their goalie has come out on safari to clear his lines. They look rather dodgy at the back, with full-backs pushed up. Have they not been reading Martin Belam’s permutations?
3 min: Golden chance for Senegal. The ball finds itself at the feet of Idrissa Gueye, but his shot goes wide. The goal was gaping. Ecuador had gone to sleep.
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2 min: The lineups suggest 4-3-3 for the Ecuadorians, and then 4-2-3-1 for Senegal. Has Valencia been patched up? His movement so far seems fluid enough.
1 min: This is the first time Ecuador have ever played an African team in the World Cup and they are greeted with the din of those Senegalese drums. Ecuador get it underway with some passing. They will want to keep it tight for the entire 90 minutes.
And here are the anthems, sung lustily by both teams. I shall refrain from reviewing the tunes, as that type of thing is all a bit unnecessary, and liable to cause offence.
Ok, the teams are in the tunnel, and making their way to the field of play at the Al Khalifa Stadium. Within 90 minutes plus probably plenty of change, the first of the last 16 will be known.
And remember, the teams from this group will face those qualifiers from England’s group.
I met Enner Valencia eight years ago during a media event, and later wrote this.
It’s September 2014 and West Ham United are holding a press launch for Club London, a corporate hospitality programme for the move into the Olympic Stadium in summer 2016. As is customary at such events, first-team players are wheeled out to speak to the media. New striker Enner Valencia, fresh from scoring against Liverpool in a 3-1 victory, has a huddle of reporters around him, and he gives his reasons for choosing to become a Hammer.
“I knew about West Ham mainly from watching films,” he says through a translator. “And I know the supporters were very passionate.”
“Which films?”
Two journalists ask the question at the same time. Valencia smiles, and the translator begins to look nervous. There is a pause.
“He means ‘Green Street,’” the translator says eventually. The room erupts with laughter. A corporate junket has gone wildly off-message. “Green Street,” or “Green Street Hooligans,” to use its American release title, is a film about a West Ham hooligan, named after the street on which the club’s current home Upton Park sits.
Jacob Steinberg was there, too.
Two more Ecuador changes to mention. Alan Franco and Carlos Gruezo come into midfield as Jackson Porozo is benched with Jhegson “Gary” Mendez is suspended.
Matt Dony zings in: “Pathe is playing? That’s news to me. Boom. I’m here all week, try the alcohol-free Budweiser.”
Have some Squires, too.
Enner Valencia does start for Ecuador, and has recovered sufficiently from a knee strain. He left the field injured towards the end of both games his team has played so far.
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse bolstered midfield with the inclusion of Pathe Ciss in place of striker Famara Diedhiou, leaving Boulaye Dia as the lone centre forward. Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr provide width to an attack.
The teams
Ecuador: Galindez, Angelo Preciado, Torres, Hincapie, Estupinan, Franco, Gruezo, Caicedo, Plata, Estrada, Valencia. Subs: Arboleda, Cifuentes, Pacho, Ayrton Preciado, Ibarra, Ramirez, Arreaga, Mena, Sarmiento, Palacios, Dominguez, Reasco, Porozo, Rodriguez.
Senegal: Edouard Mendy, Sabaly, Koulibaly, Jakobs, Diallo, Ciss, Pape Gueye, Ndiaye, Idrissa Gueye, Ismaila Sarr, Dia. Subs: Seny Dieng, Formose Mendy, Cisse, Nampalys Mendy, Jackson, Moussa N’Diaye, Ballo-Toure, Diatta, Pape Sarr, Diedhiou, Ahmadou Dieng, Gomis, Name, Loum N’Diaye.
Beyond the football, the real story of this World Cup.
The Supreme Committee has always maintained there have been only three work-related fatalities and 37 non-work-related deaths among migrant workers at World Cup stadiums since construction for the tournament began in 2014.
In 2021 the Guardian published research that showed that more than 6,500 migrant workers from five countries – India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka – had died in Qatar between the start of 2011, the year after country won the right to host the World Cup, and 2020.
And the final round of matches mean it’s time for the permutations.
The Netherlands: A draw will be enough against Qatar for Louis van Gaal’s men to qualify.
Ecuador: Ecuador need only a draw against Senegal to progress.
Senegal: Senegal must beat Ecuador to overhaul them.
Qatar are already eliminated, and there remains mathematical possibilities that Senegal could qualify with a draw, if the Netherlands suffer a heavy defeat against Qatar, but given the hosts’ performances so far in this tournament it seems unlikely this will come into the equation.
If both Ecuador and the Netherlands win, then the margin of victory and number of goals scored will determine who tops the group. If they both win by the same score on Tuesday, they will end up with identical records, and who finishes first will be determined by their disciplinary records. The Netherlands’ is currently better, with one yellow card to Ecuador’s three. If those end up level, Fifa draws lots to see who plays in which second round match.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Holland | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2 | Ecuador | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | Senegal | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Qatar | 2 | -4 | 0 |
There’s three other big games today at the World Cup, though one in particular catches the eye. Read and sign up for Football Daily.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“They get on that until 4am or 5am and watch all the great comments and enjoy all that sh1te, and it affects the sleep patterns. You’re up until 5am looking at good comments, and the same people backing you are the ones killing you the day after. So just get rid of it, don’t look at it” – Australia coach Graham Arnold is warning his players over the perils of social media disgraces before their flamin’ final group game against Denmark.
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The Senegal coach, Aliou Cissé, also spoke at length.
I come from a country where we don’t like losing. We’re always hungry for that win. Not going to the round of 16 would be difficult to digest. We’re okay, we’re dealing with the pressure and stress. For me, it’s good stress.
We understand that winning will allow us to continue on the adventure and that’s exactly what we intend on doing. We know in 2018 we were looking for a draw when maybe the points would play in our favour but this isn’t the case tomorrow.
We’ve got a very strong and experienced team, they’re a well-oiled machine. We’ve got the right mixture of veterans and players, players who are used to these types of challenges.
On Enner Valencia: I hope he won’t be playing tomorrow. I don’t really know (Valencia) in particular but I can see that he is a warrior and he’ll want to be part of the team for a game like this.
I think the whole Ecuadorean team is a great team, they are very aggressive and they defend well. I know that my team will be focused tomorrow.
Ecuador coach Gustavo Alfaro spoke ahead of the match.
I’m convinced we’ve done everything we can, we’ve done our homework, hopefully tomorrow we will be strong and fortunate enough against Senegal, who are a great team, and hopefully we will go through, because we deserve it.
We respect the pecking order, but we don’t need to be fearful. We remain calm but that doesn’t mean we are overconfident, we are not triumphalist.
We have our own way of playing, we are not just thinking of getting a draw. We have to come to the pitch trying to win the game … We are creating our own pathway. We want to progress, we want to seal our passage, we want to play the best World Cup in Ecuadorean history.
Preamble
And now we enter sudden death, the final round of group games. Ecuador with Enner Valencia one of the stars so far, need a draw to make it to the last 16. Senegal, who found a cutting edge in beating Qatar on Friday, must win to go through. Neither can rely on Qatar to do many favours for them in the concurrent Group A game being played. And this was always like to be the key game for both teams, with Ecuador’s draw with the Dutch lessening their jeopardy.
There’s been a worry over Valencia, the tournament’s leading scorer with three goals for Ecuador, as he took a whack in the 1-1 draw with the Dutch, while Aliou Cisse will be hoping Boulaye Dia and Famara Diedhiou can continue the scoring touch they found against the host nation in a 3-1 win.
Ecuador want to reach the last 16 for the second time, they reach there in 2006, losing to England. Senegal reached the quarter-finals in 2002, with Cissé at the heart of it all as captain. To follow on from that great team, and this year’s model – sans Sadio Mané – and their winning of the Africa Cup of Nations, only a win will do.
Kick-off at 3pm UK time / 6pm Mecca/Doha time. Join me.
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