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The Senegal team beat Benin 1-0 in the African Cup of Nations quarter-finals on July 10 in Cairo. In the semifinals, the Senegalese will face the winner of Madagascar-Tunisia on July 14th. The beautiful course of Beninois stops there.
From our special envoy in Cairo,
The Senegal team will play the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations for the first time since 2006. It will be against the winner of Madagascar -Tunisie, July 14th. But to get there will not have been easy for the Senegalese. They were able to avoid the trap set by surprising Beninese, July 10 in Cairo, in the quarterfinals of CAN 2019. But the "Lions" have previously suffered for nearly an hour.
Benin is playing bravely
Beninese recipe was known to everyone. The ingredients are always the same: a block that defends low, courage, solidarity. However, the dish is still as indigestible for the opponent. And the bill could even have been salty for the Senegalese if a heelade of Mickaël Poté had not only shaved their left amount (25th).
Although squatted in their camp, the "Squirrels" have procured the best opportunity of this period as well as the most dangerous at the beginning of second. In the 47th minute, a shot by Sessi D'Almeida, deflected, passes little by the frame. A few seconds later, it is a resumed framed Poté that forces the porter Alfred Gomis to intervene (48th). A Gomis who could have been the laughingstock of this CAN 2019 if, by missing a control, he had let the ball slip to the bottom of his own cage (66th).
Gana Gueye becomes goal scorer
Abused, the Senegalese must react. At the 53rd minute, Sadio Mané thought he opened the scoring, but the linesman reported an offside. After using the video, the opening of the score is not validated. Mbaye Niang, in point, is not more successful.
The light for Senegal finally comes from a defensive midfielder: Idrissa Gana Gueye pierces the enemy lines and, taking advantage of a one-two with Mané, adjusts Saturnin Allagbé: 1-0, 70th.
Unhappy to lead the score, the "Lions" rush to the attack to end any suspense. Mané has a new opportunity and lodges the ball at the bottom after hooking Allagbé. But the lineman again estimates that there is an offside at the start of the action (73rd). In the 76th minute, the ball is pushed back on his line by a Beninese, after a game of pool in the penalty area.
The end of the dream for Benin!
The pressure becomes stifling for Beninese who have played grueling extra time against the Moroccans , in the knockout stages of the CAN 2019. Desperate, on a new incursion of Gueye, Olivier Verdon retains his opponent. Last defender, he is logically excluded from the field (83).
A last thrill runs through the Senegalese backbone when Kalidou Koulibaly narrowly intervenes to avoid equalization (90 + 2). The adventure of Benin stops there, after four draws and one defeat but a course that will be remembered.
READ ► CAN 2019: Calendar, results and standings of the Africa Cup
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