Senegal at the 2002 World Cup: Formation to culmination
An exhaustive, longform account of Senegal's march to history on the global stage under the late, great Bruno Metsu.
It has been 20 years since Senegal stunned the world in the Far East, advancing to the quarter-final stage in their maiden appearance at the World Cup.
Under Bruno Metsu, the Teranga Lions captured the imagination with their speed, physicality, solidarity and tactical intelligence, shocking reigning world champions France along the way and overturning a deficit to beat Sweden in extra-time in the Round of 16.
That success launched Senegalese football into the mainstream and saw many of that squad, previously unheralded, secure vertical moves in the transfer market.
This is the story of that team and its success, from formation to culmination.
Senegal’s recent history and current status as African champions may belie it, but for a long time, they were one of the continent’s perennial underachievers.
At the dawn of the millennium, the Teranga Lions had appeared in less than a third of the 22 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) editions (one of those, in 1992, they hosted), and had never made the podium. Their best results were a pair of fourth-place finishes, on debut in 1965 and in 1990. When they suffered elimination at the hands of co-host Nigeria in the quarter-finals in 2000, they received a huge reception at the Leopold Senghor airport, with thousands flocking there to receive them.
This was just over two years before they would announce themselves to the world, and so it seems as good a point as any to begin charting their journey.
It would be tempting to hypothesise that their performance at Ghana/Nigeria 2000 was the catalyst for what came after. They did, after all, come mightily close to upsetting the Super Eagles in Lagos: they led until the 85th minute, and spurned a number of presentable chances to extend that advantage before the entries of Sunday Oliseh and Julius Aghahowa righted the course of history.
However, that would be overly simplistic.
For one thing, of the squad of 23 that would rock up in Korea in 2002, only seven were in the team for the 2000 AFCON. Second: until October, eight months following that Nations Cup tournament, Senegal were managed, not by Metsu, but by German Peter Schnittger.
Under Schnittger, Senegal bore little stylistic resemblance to the 2002 World Cup team. His preference was for a much more defensive emphasis, and consequently, under him the Teranga Lions were stultifying in their pragmatism. Unsurprisingly, when his contract was up, there was no appetite on the Senegal Football Federation’s (FSF) part for a renewal – in Schnittger’s final four matches in charge, against Algeria, Egypt, Togo and Guinea, Senegal had scored just once and recorded no wins.
In his stead came Frenchman Metsu, whose prior experience in Africa had been a three-month stint in charge of Guinea between April and June 2000. Under his short-lived guidance, Guinea had come through an entertaining tie against Uganda in the First Round of 2002 World Cup qualifying, drawing 4-4 away and winning 3-0 at home to progress to the Second Round. However, he had resigned the position in June, disillusioned by the disorganisation and meddling, as well as by the fact that, at the same time, the Guinean Sports Ministry was at odds with the FA.
Upon taking the role, Metsu immediately insisted on a more expansive attacking style: in his first four matches in the post – against Uganda, Morocco, Namibia and Uganda – Senegal scored eight times.
Beyond the particulars of his tactical approach, his coaching ideology was based on getting through to players on a human level and finding what made them tick. “We worked as hard as any team in the world in training,” Metsu said. “But you don't have to be a great manager to send out a team in a 4-4-2, a 4-3-3 or whatever because anyone can do that.
“By contrast, channelling everyone's energy and strength in the same direction; that is something else. Motivating players, giving them confidence, making them mentally strong… Football is not just about tactics and some people tend to forget that.
“I am a big believer in human values, if you don't love your players you don't get results. It's all about the little something extra that a manager can bring, the boost that you give the players and they give you.”
Perhaps the biggest triumph of Metsu’s humanist ethos was El-Hadji Diouf.
Diouf debuted for Senegal under Schnittger on April 23, 2000, against Benin in the second leg of their First Round World Cup qualifier. In keeping with the general theme under the German coach, Senegal scraped past the Squirrels 2-1 on aggregate. However, such was the expectation around the Lens forward that, while he warmed up for his international bow, he was greeted with an ovation inside a packed Leopold Senghor Stadium.
He would go on to earn the nickname ‘The Serial Killer’, but despite his obvious talent, he had a relatively slow start to life with the Teranga Lions. Following the appointment of Metsu, something seemed to click in the mind of Diouf though, and he absolutely caught fire from March 2001, scoring at a rate of 1.4 goals a game until the end of World Cup qualifying.
It no doubt helped that he had a manager at international level who had quickly decided that a high-handed approach to squad discipline would quickly put him at odds with the majority of his squad, most of whom he personally played a part in convincing to give the Senegal national team a shot despite their eligibility for France.
“I like the (African) outlook on life,” Metsu explained. “Nothing seems to trouble them, they very rarely lose their tempers and they are not overly serious about work. I decided quickly not to impose any fancy programme or strict regulations. I looked at improvising instead.” He was perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to indiscretions, as long as output on the pitch was unaffected.
His improvisational approach, as well as the infusion of Ligue 1 talent, saw Senegal seal a place at the 2002 AFCON, despite finishing five points behind group winners Togo. The greater challenge, however, was qualifying for the big one: the 2002 World Cup.
The World Cup qualifying series was already two games in by the time Metsu was appointed. With no fewer than three former World Cup participants – Algeria, Morocco and Egypt – drawn alongside Senegal in Group C, the task promised to be a trying one.
What happened instead was that, in the early running, teams largely cancelled one another out. Algeria drew with Senegal, who drew with Egypt, who drew with Morocco, who had drawn with Namibia. A whopping 35 per cent of matches in the group ended in draws, and so by the time Metsu properly got his feet under the table, there was not a lot of ground to make up.
After withstanding a late barrage (and a howler by referee Felix Tangawarima, who failed to see an effort by the visitors had crossed the line) to earn their third draw in a row in Rabat in February, Senegal went about their task con brio, winning four of their remaining five matches.
In a 4-0 demolition of Namibia, Diouf completed a hat-trick just seven minutes after the second-half restart. He then proceeded to put a hapless Algeria to the sword, hitting another treble five weeks later, before defeat to Egypt in Cairo momentarily threw a spanner in the works, seeing them slip down to second in the group with two matches to play.
Senegal steadied themselves, however, beating Morocco 1-0 at home to remain within three points of the group leaders. Their trouncing of Namibia on the road had a far more egalitarian feel to the scorers’ sheet: five different goalscorers, one of them – unsurprisingly – Diouf. These victories, and even more so the margin of them, would prove crucial, as Senegal secured top spot – and a place at the World Cup for the first time ever – on goal difference and off the back of stellar home form.
The Teranga Lions were received like heroes upon their return from Windhoek, with thousands attending them as they began a slow, near five-hour procession from the airport to downtown Dakar. “It is an unforgettable moment,” Diouf said. “Something has changed in my life. Football is a great succour to our country, so now it is a matter of honour: we must stand up for our country.
“I am certain we can win the African Cup next year and even the World Cup. We are about to experience the season of a lifetime.”
Following their historic achievement, Senegal president Abdoulaye Wade returned hurriedly from a G8 meeting in Europe to receive the team. He promptly awarded every member of the Senegal squad with a knighthood – the national order of the Lion. “We have entered the era of a Senegal that wins,” he proclaimed proudly.
Even he could not have envisaged just how accurate that statement would turn out to be.
There is not a lot to recommend the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations. The heat, combined with poor playing surfaces in Mali, made for an exceedingly poor tournament, lacking in goals and quality.
Senegal were powerless to escape the general malaise: drawn in Group D with Tunisia, Zambia and Egypt, the Teranga Lions only managed two goals in their three group matches. That tally was enough to amass seven points, however; the bigger concern was the form of attacking talisman Diouf, previously prolific but suddenly quiet. Not even he could impose his goal-scoring prowess on a dreary competition.
There were also noises from within the team to the effect that individualism was beginning to creep into their play. After a second successive 1-0 win – over Zambia – had secured a place in the quarter-finals, midfielder Salif Diao dug into his teammates, demanding clear-the-air talks. “We usually play for each other, but here in Mali everyone has been playing for himself,” he told BBC Sport. “We need to change that.
“We played really badly against Zambia, and in my view, Zambia has been the best team in this group. Before the next game against Tunisia, we need to talk to each other.”
A goalless draw against Tunisia sufficed for top spot and meant – crucially – that Senegal avoided a meeting with reigning champions Cameroon, at least in the interim.
Their quarter-final appointment came in the form of DR Congo, who were themselves having some intra-squad drama around star striker Shabani Nonda. The Monaco striker had left the camp three days after their opening defeat to Cameroon, citing illness and limited faith in the DRC medical staff. (This account was initially supported by coach Louis Watunda and then subsequently refuted by the same man.)
Whatever the case, Nonda was admitted into hospital in Monaco with the flu, but promised to return to the camp if DR Congo still had a chance of quarter-final progress going into the final group match against Cote d’Ivoire. Without Nonda, the Leopards drew with Togo, and so true to his word the striker returned and starred against the Elephants, scoring the second goal in the 3-1 win that saw them through.
Against a tricky opponent, Senegal gave their best performance of the tournament to that point. On the half-hour, Diao headed home Khalilou Fadiga’s cross to open the scoring, and late on Diouf finally arrived at the party in Mali, scoring a second to secure the result. (It would, strangely enough, be Diouf’s only goal for Senegal in an international tournament.)
Up next, though, was the small matter of a rematch with Nigeria.
As has been established, this was a very different squad to the one that lost to the Super Eagles in 2000. Nevertheless, revenge was very much at the front of hearts and minds within the Senegal camp ahead of the semifinal. There was even a sense that winning the semifinal was of far greater importance to certain memes of the squad than contesting the final itself. “I have looked forward to this match with prayers and determination,” Diouf stated.
From Souleymane Camara, it was even more pointed. “Against Nigeria it will be revenge,” he assured.
Beyond their thirst for vengeance and their growing standing as a contender on the continent, Senegalese confidence was based on Nigeria’s uninspired performances in Mali to that point. While the lack of goals and excitement had been pervasive, much had been expected from the Super Eagles coming in, on account of their star power.
A trio of dour 1-0 wins, sandwiching a fortunate goalless draw with the hosts, had punctured their aura of strength, however. While coach Shaibu Amodu reiterated he had little compunction with one-nilling his way to the trophy, his camp was in a bit of disarray, with the players feuding with sports ministry personnel and his number one goalkeeper Ike Shorunmu doubtful after suffering a concussion in the quarter-final against Ghana.
Shorunmu was ultimately passed fit, but come kick-off it was obvious he probably should not have been. He seemed almost in a daze, and was clearly off the boil physically. He at least had an excuse; ahead of him, his unimpaired teammates were nevertheless given the runaround by an uber-motivated Senegal team, who struck the woodwork inside the opening two minutes.
Perhaps that was the problem though: Metsu’s side were a little too fired up. Despite having the game well in hand, midfielder Pape Sarr was sent off in the 36th minute for swinging an elbow at Nigeria midfielder Garba Lawal, a moment of madness that could have turned the tide of the tie completely.
Senegal, however, were undeterred, and went to a 4-4-1 shape, dropping Henri Camara into a wide role. When they took the lead in the 57th minute, it was not entirely undeserved: Papa Bouba Diop rose highest to head home from a Fadiga corner with Shorunmu flapping at air.
They held the lead until late on when, in precisely the sort of eventuality that can be scripted but would usually be considered trite, the ghost of AFCON past materialised on Lamine Diatta’s shoulder. As the defender dawdled in anticipation of Tony Sylva, Julius Aghahowa, whose brace had damned the Teranga Lions two years prior, stole in to poke a finish under the advancing goalkeeper and into the net to tie the match and force extra time.
Down a man and having had the wind taken out of their sails so late, Senegal could have been forgiven for wilting as they had done two years before. This team, however, was made of sterner stuff. “At no moment during the match did we think we were going to lose,” Fadiga said afterwards. “Even when Nigeria equalised, we did not think we would lose. The confidence was there.”
With seven minutes of extra time played, it was Metsu’s side that found a second goal, Diao scuffing a Diouf pass beyond Shorunmu. From then on, a match that had for so long been throwing to boil over finally did. Diatta, enduring a dreadful crisis on the day, almost conspired to hand Nigeria yet another lifeline when he scythed Nwankwo Kanu down inside the penalty area with three minutes to go. However, substitute Wilson Oruma, an unusual choice for the responsibility considering the circumstances around his inclusion in the tournament squad to begin with, hit the upright with his spot-kick.
Both Aghahowa and Ifeanyi Udeze then got sent off for scarcely believable tackles at the death; Nigeria finished with nine men and Senegal took their pound of flesh.
By contrast, the final was something of a damp squib.
Cameroon were without star striker and tournament joint-top scorer Patrick Mboma due to injury, while Senegal were shorn of Sarr and also had the weight of 120 gruelling minutes in their legs.
Unsurprisingly, after a bright start, the Teranga Lions declined sharply from the 20th minute onward. The Indomitable Lions, however, lacked the composure to take advantage. Pius Ndiefi, in the starting lineup in place of Mboma, missed a couple of gilt-edged chances, and Samuel Eto’o had a goal chalked off for an infringement. An inexorable march to penalties, a fitting way to end a forgettable tournament, ensued, and in the shoot-out, Cameroon came out on top, with captain Aliou Cisse driving the decisive kick straight into the thigh of Alioum Boukar.
This theme of emotional and physical exhaustion would repeat itself down the line, but in the interim, Metsu’s Senegal had gone further at AFCON than any other Senegal team had previously. The fact it had taken a historic Cameroon side to stop them was, in itself, a testament to their newfound quality, as well as an affirmation of Metsu’s work and methods.
The disappointment notwithstanding, optimism remained high with the World Cup on the horizon, despite a difficult draw: Senegal would have to negotiate a group featuring Uruguay, Denmark, and reigning world and European champions France in Korea. It was against the latter, their former colonial administrators, that the Teranga Lions would kick off, and it was widely expected to be a baptism of fire for the debutants.
Two people notably (and publicly) predicted otherwise. One of them was Francois Omam-Biyik, whose towering header in 1990 had defeated reigning world champions Argentina in their opening encounter at that year’s World Cup. In his mind, the fact that the core of the Senegal squad was based out of France would stand them in good stead. “They have nothing to fear, so it will be a keenly fought battle,” he said. “If they don't develop stage fright, they can create another surprise.”
The other was Senegal president Wade. Interviewed by French broadcaster TV5 during a news programme in February, he said, “Every Senegalese and I are looking forward to that opening match. We will beat France 1-0.”
It should come as no surprise that Senegal’s preparation for the 2002 World Cup was a troubled one.
Because it would not be an African FA otherwise, Senegal went into their 2002 World Cup opener against France having only played three friendlies since their defeat in the AFCON Final. Diouf would hit out at the FSF, labelling them “amateurs”, and Metsu admitted the preparation had been sub-optimal.
The French manager however tried to spin this into a positive. For one thing, it meant that their opponents would have less to go off of. More important though was the fact that it allowed Metsu to implement a tactical change he had been considering since AFCON: a move away from the default 4-4-2 and to a 4-1-4-1.
Against Cameroon’s 3-5-2 in Bamako, his side had been outnumbered in the middle of the pitch, and so were ineffective both in terms of regaining and controlling possession. Cloistered away in Fujieda, Metsu was able to drill this tactical adjustment, with the team undertaking painstaking four-hour training sessions daily. Their positive attitude in the face of this level of rigour, Metsu claimed, was his first inkling that something special might be around the corner.
The new shape got a limited airing in a pre-tournament friendly against Ecuador, but beyond that was kept under wraps.
A further wrinkle came in the form of a bizarre shoplifting incident involving star midfielder Fadiga.
The Auxerre man was found to have stolen a $240 necklace from a jewellery store in Daegu five days before the opening game against France. The theft was discovered the next day following inventory by the store owner, who promptly reported the incident to the police. Examination of the store’s video footage revealed the culprit.
Fadiga was not arrested (due to his status as a foreigner and the relatively small price of the item), but he was detained by the Korean police, who eventually accepted his explanation of the incident as the result of a dare from a teammate (thought to be Diouf). Fadiga himself did have a reputation as a prankster, to be fair.
Two days before the match against France, the store salesman sent the Senegal number 10 a gold pendant for good luck and wished him well for the tournament. “I was so sorry for him that I couldn't sleep well that night,” the salesman wrote in a note. “I had really hoped that the episode would not escalate into a serious event.
“Carrying this (the pendant) with you will bring you good luck and success. There is a Korean proverb: 'after a storm comes calm.’”
While it was a touching sentiment, the salesman was wrong: the storm was just about to begin.
Metsu really did not need to do much in order to create a siege mentality ahead of the opener against France, but he tried just the same.
Much of the conversation around the opening match focused on the fact that many of the players in the Senegal roster could realistically have played for France. That they opted for the African side was – and this is a not unfamiliar talking point – proof that they were not quite good enough for Les Bleus. After all, had France midfielder, Patrick Vieira, not been born in Dakar? That was more than could be said for the likes of Sylvain N’Diaye and Habib Beye, both of whom were born in Paris, was it not?
This was derisory enough by itself, but Metsu played it up. In the dressing room of the Seoul World Cup Stadium, he showed them newspaper articles that quoted France players promising victory, as well as Pele’s assessment of Senegal as the weak link in Group A. “The boys were relaxed, but I immediately noticed a revolt in their eyes,” he told KickOff. “There and then I knew they were going to fight like lions.”
Senegal had more going for them than just that, of course. Tactically, the 4-1-4-1 was perfect for combatting a France side with a plethora of good attackers but an ageing, slow defence—the idea was to stop the supply into the forwards by pressing in midfield, and then spring with pace into the channels. In Diouf, they had the perfect frontman for this strategy: rapier-quick and skillful in possession.
It did not hurt either that Les Bleus talisman Zinedine Zidane was unavailable with a torn thigh muscle.
The match could not have gone better if Metsu himself had scripted it. France, for all their firepower, seemed slightly stumped for ideas, and despite David Trezeguet’s effort hitting the frame of the goal with a curling shot, they found Senegal’s intensity in the middle of the park difficult to overcome. Going the other way, Diouf kept chipping away at Les Bleus’ back line, making run after run, a lot of them fruitless and ill-timed, until his moment finally arrived.
On the half-hour mark, Diouf got his run just right inside the left channel, skipped past a panicking Frank Lebeouf on the outside and sped to the byline. His cutback through the legs of Marcel Desailly rolled into the path of the onrushing Emmanuel Petit, who inadvertently diverted the ball goalward. Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez, prone, stuck out a hand to prevent the own goal, but could only parry it into the path of midfielder Bouba Diop, who tapped the ball home from close range to open the scoring.
Bouba Diop’s celebration has since passed into legend, with the entire Senegal team doing a jig by the corner flag around his jersey.
France were stunned, but they did still have an hour with which to work. However, with the benefit of a lead, the Teranga Lions now had an incentive to dig in, clogging up the space in their defensive third and going in hard on the world champions. Largely reduced to efforts from distance, France looked harried and ragged, although they did hit the bar in the second half when a Thierry Henry curler had Sylva beaten all ends up.
When they got clear sights, headers and shots were either mistimed or straight at the goalkeeper, who more often than not was impeccably positioned. True to Metsu’s expectation, Senegal fought with leonine intensity to close down the space, but it was far from a parked bus. They retained a threat on the break – Fadiga crashed a shot off the crossbar and Bouba Diop firedwide from an angle when he perhaps might have been better served trying to find Diouf in the middle of the penalty area – and only gave up 15 shots in total.
By the end, France had four strikers – Henry, Trezeguet, Christophe Dugarry and Djibril Cisse – strewn across the pitch, but it did not matter – the Teranga Lions had the points, the win, and a place in history. Remarkably, Senegal had made no substitutions of their own in response, with Metsu careful to not upset his team’s own rhythm. “We had dreamt about this match, thought it out and made it come true,” he said afterwards. “As a coach, this gives me great pleasure.
“It's a great reward for the country and for the players. We worked really hard and we're happy to have pulled off this unbelievable coup.”
Senegal continued to thrill and surprise in Korea.
They drew their second group match 1-1 against Denmark, with Diao, who would be sent off with 10 minutes to play, finishing off a coast-to-coast second-half counter-attack to equalise after Jon Dahl Tomasson’s opener from the penalty spot. Down a goal at the break, Metsu had taken off two midfielders and brought on two forwards, shifting to 4-4-2 to turn the match around.
With four points from two matches, and France drawing with Uruguay in the other match, it meant that Senegal needed no more than a draw against the South Americans to secure a place in the Round of 16.
Surprisingly in light of this, Metsu handed Henri Camara his first start of the World Cup to make up a more attacking lineup, with the aim apparently being to exploit the space behind the Uruguay wing-backs. He was rewarded with a blistering start to the match. Senegal sprang on La Celeste right away, and by the half-time break they had built up a 3-0 lead.
Fadiga’s penalty had opened the scoring, but it was Bouba Diop’s runs from deep that caused Victor Pua’s side the greatest anguish, and the midfielder scored twice arriving late into the penalty area.
As referee Jan Wegereef blew the whistle to signal the halfway point of the match, Senegal were set to not only qualify, but to top Group A. By the time the board went up to indicate stoppage time at the end of the second period, Senegal would be fighting to even remain in the tournament.
Pua, understanding his side had nothing to lose, had thrown on forward Mario Regueiro late in the first half and shifted away from the 3-4-1-2 to a 4-3-3. At the start of the second half, he went even more extreme, taking out a midfielder for another striker and going to a devil-may-care 3-2-1-4.
The sheer weight of forwards seemed to stun Senegal, and straight from the kick-off, Uruguay pulled one back through substitute Richard Morales. “That's when I started to feel afraid,” full-back Ferdinand Coly said afterwards.
Despite the Teranga Lions having handled a similar threat of numbers against France, they had no answers to the onslaught this time around. Mainly because this was really five strikers (Alvaro Recoba, the nominal 1 behind the front line, was a striker in his own right) as opposed to the four Les Bleus threw on, but more because they were up against a team with their backs against the wall.
Diego Forlan’s sublime volley made it 3-2 in the 69th minute, and then, with two minutes to go, Uruguay were awarded a travesty of a penalty. Recoba, who had been brilliant in the second half, stepped forward to convert, and suddenly Senegal were, rather bizarrely, staring elimination in the face.
It nearly happened too, but Lamine Diatta produced one of the greatest goal-line clearances in modern football history, stooping to head away a fierce drive from Gustavo Varela. Somehow, they held on. “It’s a great day for us and a historic day for Senegal to qualify for the last 16 in our first World Cup - it’s extraordinary,” Metsu said, relieved.
“We had a great first half but in the second we had to work really hard - when they scored just after the break I began to worry. But this draw feels like a win.
“We will go up against some of the best teams in the world – Argentina, England, Sweden. They’re all difficult. We’ll try and produce another surprise like we did against France, but it will be difficult.”
They did cause another surprise.
For the Round of 16 clash with Sweden, Senegal were without the influential Fadiga, who was suspended on account of two bookings in the Group Stage. Metsu’s solution was to hand a first start of the tournament to forward Pape Thiaw, with Diouf playing on the left. Camara kept his place from the start following his two assists against Uruguay.
Shorn of their number 10, Senegal were a little flat at the start, and fell behind for only the second time in the tournament, as Henrik Larsson headed the Scandinavians into the lead from a corner in the 11th minute. The grit and refusal to die that they had displayed to this point was, however, in effect once again here, and following a 15-minute spell of pressure, the Africans were level eight minutes before the break. From his station on the right Camara controlled a Diouf flick-on, shifted the ball out of his feet and fired low inside the far post to equalise.
From then until the end of the half, Metsu’s men were in the ascendancy, but after both sides emerged for the restart, they were once more decidedly second-best. Niclas Alexandersson and Andreas Andersson missed presentable chances for the Swedes, but the biggest culprit of all was Zlatan Ibrahimovic who, after escaping the attentions of Coly and Cisse, elected to shoot at the near post instead of playing in the better-placed Larsson.
Into extra time, and remarkably, beyond replacing the injured Papa Malick Diop with Habib Beye midway through the second half, Metsu had made no further substitutions. The golden goal rule was in effect at this World Cup, for the last time in a men’s senior international tournament, and so the stakes were extremely high.
Considering that the very rationale for consigning the golden goal to the bin was the fact that it made for boring, cagey extra time periods, this one proved to be quite entertaining for as long as it lasted. Both sides had promising opportunities to settle it, with Sweden again slightly the better side. However, with a minute left of the first period of extra time, Senegal made history.
The biggest surprise, really, was that the move for the goal did not feature Diouf, who had been excellent. Thiaw, having endured a quite frustrating afternoon leading the line, was the architect instead: he received a pass from Amdy Faye, dragged his marker out of the defence to create some space, and then backheeled the ball into the path of Camara, who was make the reverse out-to-in movement. The earring-sporting number 7 received the pass, jinked past a defender, and then scuffed the ball into the same corner as he had done for the equaliser over an hour earlier.
Cue bedlam. Camara ripping his shirt off, unsure where to run and then hoisted. A mass of jubilant bodies – clad in white and green – piling on. The coaching crew in a tight embrace, Metsu centred. Faye prone on the turf, weeping with joy unalloyed. Japanese and Senegalese mingling in one throng of ululating humanity in the stands. Senegal, this Senegal, had, on debut, gone where only Cameroon before them had. For the second time in history, an African nation would appear in a World Cup quarter-final.
“This was not luck,” Metsu said in the aftermath. “We are seeing the birth of a great team.”
Two days later, their last-eight opponents were revealed. Turkey had come through a tough test against the co-hosts Japan, and though they were themselves in uncharted territory, they would present a tricky test.
The greater challenge for Senegal, however, was an internal one.
Of the eight teams in the quarter-finals, none had made fewer substitutions over the course of their previous four matches than the Teranga Lions’ six; the team with next fewest was co-hosts Korea, who had used 10. The sense was that Metsu did not quite trust his entire squad: it was telling that when Malick Diop went off injured against Sweden, rather than dropping captain Cisse into the heart of the defence and bringing on Moussa (or even Sylvain) N’Diaye, it had been Beye who had come on, with Coly moving from right-back to centre-back.
Metsu more or less confirmed this ahead of the meeting with the Turks, when he bizarrely bemoaned the physical and mental exertion his side had gone through, as though there was nothing more he could have done to alleviate it. “It's annoying. It's not good. We have arrived at saturation point,” he said.
“The problems are visible with all the matches we have played. All our matches were battles. It's also the nervous tension which is as tiring as the physical effects. You can't go on demanding, demanding, demanding. Until now, the players have been exceptional, but the problem is that when they are average, they are bad.”
This, in itself, was an interesting assessment of his players, and was at variance with his prior claim, in an interview with L’Equipe following the win over Sweden, that his side was still to peak. Here, he seemed to suggest that, to get as far as they did, they had needed to play to the absolute limit of their ability, and that it was the strain of reaching that had worn them out.
Predictably, there were a number of fitness doubts. Malick Diop as previously stated, but also Coly, who had some trouble with his knee, and Cisse (thigh).
As if the lack of freshness was not trouble enough, a further complication came in the form of that most African of phenomena: the desire to claim and politicise success. As Senegal progressed through the tournament, there was an increasing political presence within their camp, and so the carefree, familial atmosphere that Metsu had created gave way to a much more guarded, regimented one.
All of this portended a less than effervescent showing in the last eight, and so it turned out.
With Diao and Fadiga returning from suspensions, there should have, in theory, been an injection of freshness. This did not materialise, however. Turkey began the match in the ascendancy, and were comfortably superior. Despite having a goal rightly disallowed for offside, Senegal looked and played how they were: jaded, with loose touches aplenty and a deficit of lucidity in promising situations. “They were in better shape than us,” Diouf admitted. “We were a bit tired.”
It seemed more than a bit, in truth. In the 26th minute, Hakan Sukur missed a sitter, allowing a pass across the top of the six-yard box from Hasan Sas roll under his feet when he had the goal at his mercy. In the 38th, Sylva needed to intervene with his fingertips to prevent Ergun Penbe’s superb cross from reaching the far-post run of Sukur, and a minute later the usually excellent Sas failed to sort his feet out when a fine opportunity presented itself inside the Senegal penalty area.
With less than two minutes to the half-time interval, Yildiray Basturk came closest to opening the scoring, latching on to a reverse pass by Sas and knocking the ball past a walkabout Sylva, only for left-back Omar Daf to hook the ball clear off the line. The Teranga Lions’ goal was living a charmed life, and it seemed only a matter of time.
Diouf fired a free-kick narrowly over after the restart, before Turkey once again assumed the role of protagonists. It did not do much for Senegal’s cause that referee Oscar Ruiz seemed completely uninterested in Diouf’s pleas for fouls, probably wary of the striker’s propensity to cry wolf.
Beyond a brief period during which Bouba Diop and Cisse briefly (and inexplicably) swapped roles, there seemed little from Metsu by way of response or alteration. The fact that neither Daf nor Coly earned their bread as attacking full-backs necessarily made it all the easier for Turkey’s narrow midfield to control their opponents' sporadic forays into the attack. No fresh impetus emerged from the bench either; for the second match at that World Cup, Senegal made no substitutions at all.
As if to illustrate the illogical nature of this approach, it would be Ilhan Mansiz, on from the bench to replace Sukur, who would prove the decisive figure of the quarter-final. The Besiktas man produced an audacious chip in the 68th minute to nearly punish Sylva’s aggressive positioning, had a good shout for a penalty following a coming together with Daf inside the area 10 minutes later, and threatened to open up Senegal with clever interplay with Basturk and Sas, an aspect in which he clearly was an improvement on the departed captain.
Senegal’s best chance to prevent extra time came inside stoppage time at the end of the second half, as they broke following a turnover in midfield, but Camara’s shot was well held by Turkey goalkeeper Rustu Recber following a flowing move that involved the entire front three.
That was as good as it got for the Africans, beyond a lung-busting run by Camara straight from kick-off which took him all the way to the byline. From that point on, Turkey were again at it, and this time there would be a reward at the end. Umit Davala, recovering the ball after it went loose following a tackle, carried it down the right, and swung in a cross which was met perfectly by Ilhan. The striker’s half-volleyed finish, expert and unerring into the far corner, brought the quarter-final, as well as the dream of an entire continent, to a whimpering end.
As Metsu had predicted, his side were unable to overcome their physical denudation. It had been coming, and Diouf, who had played every single minute of every game at the World Cup, captured it best when he said: “I've played all the league games (for Lens in France) and the African qualifiers.”
The same was true for a number of the squad, and indeed it was a theme of that year’s Mundial in general, being that it kicked off so early and was played in the cloying heat of the Oriental summer. But beyond even that, there was a sense in Diouf’s words subsequently that suggested something more might have been at play.
“[Tiredness] is not the reason we lost,” the forward said in a seldon glimpsed moment of grace. “Give credit to Turkey, they just played better than we did. The two teams were very equally matched but we perhaps played too tactically today.”
The allusion to the team playing “too tactically” is fascinating, as it suggests that was not their natural inclination. Taken in tandem with Metsu’s comments about his side being bad when they were average, there is the notion he deliberately reined them in for fear they would be embarrassed if they went for it with their tanks empty physically.
Notwithstanding, there was no gainsaying the fact of the matter: irrespective of how it ended, taking Senegal that far was supremely impressive on the part of the Frenchman.
“Bruno provided the spark for all this,” FSF head El Hadji Malick Sy said afterwards, for once avoiding the trope of the African administrator seeking to claim the glory for himself. “He taught them how to play together, and he created the group.”
In all, it had been a great, historic tournament; one in which Senegal captured the very essence of African football with a game style based around speed, soul, flair and strength, but also underpinned by a well-drilled, versatile structure. It allowed them go toe-to-toe with some of the finest teams and biggest stars on the grandest stage of all, an unthinkable feat for a nation that, only two years prior, had celebrated a last-eight elimination at the Africa Cup of Nations. ”I am very, very proud that such a small country can come to the World Cup and really rock the boat among the hierarchy of world football,” Metsu said.
“They performed heroically but we came up against a very good Turkish side and perhaps we did run out of steam a little.”
There was, nevertheless, a feeling of regret. For Fadiga, a chance to break a glass ceiling had been missed. “I'm a bit disappointed as we wanted to be the first African team to make it to the World Cup semi-finals," he said. "We were very, very close to doing something historic but what we have already done is historic. We will come back in four years even stronger.”
It was a surprise then that Metsu, following the World Cup, left the post for the United Arab Emirates. Oddly, it turns out the Frenchman had requested a leave of absence from Senegal to take a job with Al Ain, a plea he presented to the country’s president Wade.
The idea appears to have been for him to return to his role with the Teranga Lions after 10 months. Unsurprisingly, the Senegalese FA rejected the idea, despite Wade apparently giving his blessing, and Metsu walked.
Diouf, displeased at this turn of events, warned of impending catastrophe. “Metsu is the coach that we need and we all have lots of respect for him,” he said. “His departure runs the risk of blowing the group apart.”
His prophecy proved remarkably accurate, even if some of it was self-fulfilling – in protest of Metsu’s departure, the forward boycotted a 2004 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Lesotho two months after. Without the Frenchman’s brand of management, Senegal began a precipitous descent. For the Teranga Lions, there would not be a return to the World Cup for another 16 years.
Even more telling was the fact that, Bouba Diop and Camara aside, none of his squad would hit the same heights. A number secured big moves on the back of the World Cup, but few lived up to the billing.
In 2003, Khalilou Fadiga’s medical at Internazionale flagged a heart problem, and despite signing for the Italian club, he would not make a single competitive appearance. He left after one season. Diouf, tapped by Gerard Houllier as Liverpool’s ace in the hole for a title charge, never got going beyond a good start at Anfield, and left acrimoniously two years later, first on loan and then permanently; Diao, also signed by Liverpool, similarly floundered and became an afterthought.
Metsu found a measure of success in the Gulf, and applied for the France national team job following their shock ouster from Euro 2004. The France Football Federation went with Raymond Domenech instead.
In spite of how the story ended, and the unfulfilled promise of a dynasty, the mind still inevitably turns to that summer in Korea and Japan, when a modest footballing nation took its first great steps into global relevance. It was brief – the culmination of a two-year cycle that changed lives and altered the perceptions and expectations of an entire people – but it was oh so sweet.
Yet, there was no trophy lift, no wild triumph. To love this Senegal side is to do so for the purest, most visceral of reasons, untainted by a vicarious hunger for bragging rights and vainglory. “We will be remembered for our enthusiasm, the way we live and our football in this tournament,” Fadiga said.
Right on, Khalilou. Right on.