2002 FIFA World Cup (tm) Finals - Results & Fixtures - France vs Senegal

31 May 2002


France	0 - 1	Senegal
	(HT: 0 - 1)

Game Details
Venue Seoul World Cup Stadium	Attendance 62651
Referee Ali Bujsaim (UAE) Assistant Referees Ali Al Traifi (KSA) Jorge Rattalino (ARG)

Game Events
#	Date	Player	Event	Period	Mins	H/A
1	31 May 2002	Pape Bouba Diop	Goal	First Half	30	A
2	31 May 2002	Emmanuel Petit	Yellow Card	First Half	47	H
3	31 May 2002	Aliou Cisse	Yellow Card	Second Half	6	A
4	31 May 2002	Youri Djorkaeff	Player Out	Second Half	15	H
5	31 May 2002	Christophe Dugarry	Substitute In	Second Half	15	H
6	31 May 2002	Sylvain Wiltord	Player Out	Second Half	36	H
7	31 May 2002	Djibril Cisse	Substitute In	Second Half	36	H

Match report

Holders France crashed to a shock 1-0 defeat against African debutants Senegal as the 2002 World Cup kicked off with one of the greatest upsets in the tournament's 72-year history. When United Arab Emirates referee Ali Bujsaim blew the final whistle the entire Senegal bench emptied and rushed onto the field while the French side couldn't wait to get to their changing room and they rushed to the tunnel. The 1998 champions - missing star playmaker Zinedine Zidane - looked a pale shadow of the side that beat Brazil in the final four years ago while Senegal gave notice that a new African football force had arrived.
Shell-shocked French coach Roger Lemerre, whose side could now face an uphill battle to make it out of the group with matches against Uruguay and Denmark to come admitted the world champions had been second best on the night. "Senegal gave a great performance and they were well organised. They had three or four chances to score and they took one of them. We played poorly individualy and collectively. We had three or four chances and didn't take any of them," said Lemerre. "Now the bite is on for the second match. A draw will not be good enough. We need the three points," he added.
Captain Marcel Desailly agreed with his coach. "It was a surprise but we are just have to going to have to bounce back for the next game. We have to lift our heads and get on with it," said the Chelsea player. "Senegal tackled harder, ran harder and fought harder," he admitted.
Juventus striker David Trezeguet agreed France had failed to raise it's game. "We lacked quality tonight but we are still in the tournament," he said.
Senegal coach Bruno Metsu was beaming afterwards. "Everything went to plan. Maybe I am not the best coach in the world but after tonight I am not the worst. I just hope the players recover for the next match," said Metsu. "We had some luck today we are very very happy with this," he said. "It's like a dream - not a miracle though. "We are past one step but there are two games to come. We have to confirm this result and again play at this level againmst Denmark and Uruguay.
Man-of-the-match El-Hadji Diouf, the African player of the year, insisted it was no big deal to beat the world champions. "We came here to win, not just make up the numbers," said Diouf. "We are a good team and there is no reason why we won't go through the group. "I think that the whole of Africa will be celebrating this result," he added.
It took the slick moving Senegal only 30 minutes to take the lead. It was a perfectly worked goal by striker Diouf who was posing all sorts of trouble for a suspect looking French defence. When Youri Djorkaeff lost the ball in midfield and it was flashed to Diouf on the left with only Frank Lebeouf between him and the goal there was never a doubt. Diouf left the Marseille defender stabbing his foot at thin air as he glided past. He took the ball to the line before sidestepping in a cross. Diouf's low centre was met by back-pedalling France midfielder Emmanuel Petit, whose clearance rebounded off the legs of diving goalkeeper Fabien Barthez allowing Bouba Diop to hook home from close range. Senegal's first ever goal in the World Cup finals sparked off a celebration dance at the left hand corner flag. Even the thousand of Koreans sporting Senegal shirts did not need the cheerleaders to tell them to to roar their approval. "It was great," said Diop. "To score the first goal in the World Cup. I had been dreaming about it before the match. I was really trying."
The French strike force of Sylvain Wiltord, Trezeguet and Thierry Henry discovered why no team has scored more than one goal against the Senegal defence since the African Nations Cup in 2000 and in their 21 competitive matches since then they have only conceded seven goals. Lamine Diatta and Malick Diop simply soaked up what ever the French could throw at them. France were clearly suffering from the absence of Zinedine Zidane, out injured. Stand-in Youri Djorkaeff was doing his best to replace the Real Madrid star but was clearly struggling trying to impose himself on the match. He was finally taken off after 60 minutes and replaced by Christophe Dugarry.
France had a chance in the 23rd minute when a swift advance on goal saw Henry thread a pass to Juventus striker David Trezeguet who took one touch before curling a shot against the post with Sylva easily beaten. But the reigning world champions were finding it tough going against the fast-running African side. The fustration ran over in the 45th minute when Emanuelle Petit collected the first yellow card of the tournament with a late tackle on Diouf. Henry saw a shot flash off the cross bar in the 66th minute and had another golden chance in extra-time but nothing and no-one was going to upset Senegal's night of glory.
In fact France could not have complained if the gap had been ever wider. A blistering shot from Khalilou Fadiga, still facing a possible theft charge here after allegedly stealing a gold necklace, shook the cross bar and the creaking French defence.

(courtesy of dailysoccer)




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Page created by Christakis Ioannou on 2 June 2002 19:22:04.