OITA, Japan – Senegal didn't come to the World Cup for a vacation. It came
for a trophy.
Thanks to Henri Camara's overtime goal, the tournament newcomers
extended their stay, beating Sweden 2-1 Sunday. The Africans are in the
quarterfinals, where they will meet either Japan or Turkey on Saturday
in Osaka.
"We're not here to be tourists," said Camara, who had Senegal's other
goal. "We won today and now we must forget this and concentrate on the
upcoming match."
Their victory will be difficult to forget, however. They survived a shot
off the goalpost by Sweden's Anders Svensson earlier in the extra
session. And they overcame injuries and suspensions to knock out the
Swedes, who won the toughest first-round group.
"We showed again we can go to the end," African player of the year El
Hadji Diouf said. "We knew that it would be a very hard match, a match
of warriors. We showed once more that we are a band of brothers, a band
of friends."
Senegal forward Pape Thiaw set up the winning goal when he back-heeled a
pass to Camara, who was streaking toward the goal. Camara made a
brilliant move around defender Johan Mjallby just outside the penalty
box and put a low left-footed shot past keeper Magnus Hedman and off the
goalpost.
It was just the second golden goal to decide a World Cup match. In 1998,
host France beat Paraguay 1-0 when Laurent Blanc scored in the 113th
minute.
"It was a very difficult match to win," said defender Ferdinand Coly,
who took over as Senegal's defensive leader after a second-half injury
to mainstay Papa Malick Diop. "The hot weather made us exhausted."
Still, to the the incessant African drumbeats at Big Eye Stadium, speed
and individual creativity won out over mere organization.
"We feel pretty empty after a match like this," Swedish co-coach Lars
Lagerback said. "We had a good start ... it feels a little bit tougher
when you try so hard in the second half and a little bit after that."
Svensson almost won the game for Sweden five minutes into overtime with
a nifty spin move in the penalty box followed by a hard shot that hit
the outside of the post.
Three minutes later, Diouf nearly ended the game, wiggling through the
Swedish defense and getting past Olof Mellberg before sending his shot
wide.
Then Camara made his brilliant move around Mjallby for the winner,
making the Dakar Lions only the second African team to get this far.
Cameroon made the quarterfinals in 1990.
Senegal burst onto the African soccer scene earlier this year when it
beat Nigeria in the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations.
Sweden finished third in the 1994 World Cup in the United States and
lost in the final at home in 1958.
Henrik Larsson gave Sweden the lead in the 11th minute with his third
goal of the World Cup, heading in a corner kick after goalkeeper Tony
Sylva came out of the net to try to grab the ball.
Both teams created many chances in the final 45 minutes of regulation in
front of 39,747 at the Big Eye Stadium, but neither side had the
finishing touch.
The Swedes' best chance of the second half came in the 80th minute, when
substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic beat Coly and slipped by Aliou Cisse. But
the forward's shot, heading for the near post, was saved by Sylva.
After Camara's winning goal, the Africans ran to the sideline and danced
in front of their fans. The Swedes fell flat on their backs.
"It's too much for us," Mjallby said. "Just one goal and everything is
over."
