| Goals | Goals |
|---|---|
| 20. Ihab Albousaifi (5’) | 14. Deme N'Diaye (11’) |
| 20. Ihab Albousaifi (84’) |
Senegal need to find team spirit
Just who would have predicted that Senegal would end up with three straight defeats in their 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Group A?
After all, they came into this tournament as arguably the most talked-about team on the continent and were handed what they would have believed was a very soft draw.
Equatorial Guinea? Bunch of mercenaries from the lower leagues in Spain. Zambia? Useful outfit but beatable. Libya? Organised side but lacking a cutting edge.
That is what they would have believed. But in the end they could not muster a single point and go home, if not quite in disgrace, then certainly as the big disappointment of the competition so far.
Coach Amara Traore was spoiled for choice up front with the likes of Mamadou Niang, Moussa Sow, Pappis Cisse, Demba Ba and Souleymane Camara.
And perhaps that was his problem. He didn’t seem to know what his best team was and that led to uncertainty amongst his players. They just didn’t look in the right head-space for this competition.
But the best that they can do now is learn from this, regroup and try and qualify for the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa.
They do have immense talent in their squad, they just need to tie it all together in a team unit. In this tournament they looked like eleven individuals. And talented or not, that will get you nowhere.
Libya can hold their heads up high and they will no doubt rue conceding late on against Equatorial Guinea in their opener.
Had they held on those extra few minutes for a 0-0 draw, they would now be in the quarterfinals of the competition and not heading home.
But they gave a good account of themselves and certainly have a lot to build on as they begin their journey as the ‘new Libya’.
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