SEATTLE (AP) 鈥� For 85 minutes, Senegal had the run of play. The African team held a two-goal lead, and had all but secured a spot in the round of 16 at the .
Within 5 minutes, it crumbled.
鈥淲e were at the heart of writing the beautiful pages of the history of our football in this world,鈥� defender Kr茅pin Diatta said. 鈥淎nd, we have to accept that we failed at our mission.鈥�
Late goals by Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans tied the score in the final minutes of regulation time, and Tielemans completed Belgium鈥檚 by converting a penalty just before the end of extra time.
The Lions of Teranga would have been the second African team in the tournament to advance to the round of 16. Morocco, one of nine African teams which , already advanced with a on Monday.
But now, Senegal is shockingly headed home.
鈥淲e鈥檙e disappointed,” Senegal midfieder Habib Diarra said. “We had a good first half, but it wasn鈥檛 enough. A match lasts 90 minutes, and we鈥檙e devastated. It鈥檚 very tough. I don鈥檛 know what to say. When you鈥檙e on the pitch, you have to give your all, and that鈥檚 not what we did. We鈥檝e only got ourselves to blame.鈥�
Senegal advanced to the World Cup knockout phase as one of the best third-place finishers after losing to France and Norway and beating Iraq. It survived one of the toughest groups in the tournament, and looked the part of one of the stronger teams in the World Cup most of the afternoon against Belgium.
Lukaku鈥檚 late goal injected life into Belgium, though, and kept the Group G winners on life support before the referee awarded Belgium a penalty deep into extra time. Senegal’s players protested the decision, but to no avail.
Diatta gave credit to Belgium for turning the game around, but said Senegal shouldn’t have let it happen.
鈥淭hey (did) the job and they proved they can come back. I think the problem was our side,鈥� Diatta said. 鈥淲e had to win this game. These kinds of tight games in the box, we have to give everything and not give them a chance.鈥�
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