Long led on the Unico turf by Diego Armando Maradona, Senegal narrowly escaped Israel’s 1-1 trap on Wednesday, May 24, during the second day of the group stage of the 2023 U20 World Cup, and found themselves on their feet before the final group match.
Very quickly, Senegal took the lead and intensified the game. Says the yellow card of Amadou Diop, guilty of too strong attack on Kancepolsky in the first quarter of the game (9th place). But with no ideas ahead of the tight Israeli defensive lines, the team at Amara Diouf was about to experience its first slump in the game. Indeed, paradoxically, the Israelis had their first strong moment, albeit a light one. First, Turgeman forced Ndiaye to reverse a long shot for a corner (20th). It was then up to Abed to get the attention of Dakar’s Oslo FA goalkeeper (22nd). The latter then made a decisive save from the attacking midfielder PSV Eindhoven, who capitalized on the recovery of the ball in the Senegalese camp (23rd).
Cubs are not dead
It took a few individual feats of Souleymane Faye for Domination to switch sides. Shot deep, the powerful centre-forward abandoned the Israeli defense before seeing his curled left easily intercepted by Tzarfati (37th). Once again he ran into the young porter Maccabi Netanya, the author of the decisive save against his sharp right (41st). The Cubs pressed on, most notably Samba Diallo, whose deflected shot missed the Tzarfati Gangs (45th + 2), followed by Mamadou Camara, who made a great acrobatic comeback that brushed against a firefly (53rd).
However, by wasting their chances, the winners of CAN U20 2022 were punished by the Israelis. Indeed, Babacar Ndiaye was dissatisfied with centre-back Ibrahim Salman and directed the skin at the bottom of his own goal (0-1, 58th). While the specter of defeat, tantamount to elimination, cast a shadow on the unrecognizable African champions, Pape Demba Diop allowed his men to snatch the equalizer and allow themselves to believe in advancing to the first advantage. After Gning’s perfect cross, midfielder Zulte Waregem won in the air and put his head out of reach of the keeper (1-1, 80).
With just one point, Senegal is bottom of Group C behind Colombia, Japan and Israel. Malick Dafa’s men were not eliminated, however, and must win the final day of the group stage against the leader of Colombia, Saturday, May 27, to have any hope of advancing.
With an African foot
