At the end of a game full of twists and turns, Senegal won 5-3 against Portugal in their second match in the group game of the Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia. As in the two previous editions, the Senegalese will play the quarterfinals.
The meeting had started rather badly for Senegal, but the Lions in Teranga were able to find the resources needed to turn around a match whose scenario has long been a draw.
After Portugal opened the scoring for Von in the 9th minute, the Senegalese could have bowed their heads but it finally took less than 30 seconds to equalize and get back into the game thanks to a goal from Roul Mendy. Barely a minute later, the Lions came back in the right direction after a penalty that Mandione Diagne converted after a foul by André Lourenço.
During the second quarter, Oumar Syllas’ men continued to press without finding the fault, until a fault from Mamadou Syllavienne turned upside down and offered a penalty to the Portuguese so that they could return to 2-2.
The Senegalese play to scare The Senegalese definitely wanted to play to scare themselves because in the 24th minute it was Portugal who took advantage thanks to a goal from a direct free kick from André Lourenço. But once again, it will only take 30 seconds for the Lions to return to 3-3 thanks to a second goal from Raoul Mendy who looked like a cautious man in this match.
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But it is ultimately the third third that allows this meeting to settle down. Despite the Portuguese’s efforts to regain the advantage, it was the Senegalese who could keep a cool head to beat their opponent with two goals late in the match. The first by Mandione Diagne in the 33rd minute, which thus offered a double, and the second by Ninou Diatta in the 35th minute shortly after the expulsion of André Lourenço.
With this second victory in as many matches, the Teranga Lions are already guaranteed to participate in the quarterfinals as they had already done in the two previous editions. By beating Oman in their last group match on Tuesday, they can even secure first place in Group D and face the second in Group C in the quarterfinals.
After this perfect start to the competition, the Senegalese have at least shown that they must be counted for the rest of the world. The six-time winner of the African Cup hopes to advance to the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in its history. They will most likely have to get rid of either Switzerland or Brazil to do so, with beach football’s most successful squad, currently second in Group C, coming under pressure after their early penalty shootout against Switzerland. Regardless of opponents, the Lions have already shown that they do not lack resources.
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