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Senegal lost to Colombia 0-1, courtesy a second-half header from Yerry Mina, to send the Africans home, and ensure that the South Americans top Group H.
This means that no African team has made it past the group stages at the 2018 World Cup, while four South American teams have progressed. The result also meant joy for Japan, despite their 0-1 loss to Poland in the other group game. The Japanese, in the end, progressed on the fair play count, as they had the same goal difference, goals scored as Senegal.
It was a disappointing performance from the Senegal side, whose World Cup began with such promise, in the 2-1 victory over Poland.
Here are three reasons for Senegal's reverse in this game.
#3 The midfield lets Senegal down
Senegal were always a team that were going to play direct football, to use the pace and power of the likes of M'Baye Niang and Sadio Mane up front, but in this game, they needed a Plan B, which involved building up play from midfield.
They started with a 4-4-2 formation, with Mane partnering Niang up front, and Idrissa Gueye and Cheikhou Kouyate manning the midfield. The long balls to the frontmen from Kalidou Koulibaly and Salif Sane was not working, and as senior players, Gueye and Kouyate should have stepped up to pull the strings from the centre of the park.
Instead, they were wasteful in possession, and their passing lacked any kind of verve or purpose. Mateus Uribe and Carlos Sanchez did a fantastic job in the midfield for Colombia, as they closed down Gueye and Kouyate at every opportunity they got, refusing to allow the Senegalese to take control of the game.
Gueye, especially, was a disappointment. His usual urgency and defensive nous in midfield were lacking, especially in the second half, as Juan Quintero was allowed to boss the game for the Colombians from a deeper role in midfield.
Gueye could also have done better on the line at the corner from which Mina headed home Colombia's winner.
#2 Senegal played for the draw
A point would have taken Senegal through to the next round, and from the first minute, it looked like they were set up as a side happy to take the 0-0 draw and make progress.
In the first half, they did that pretty well, too, as James Rodriguez, Juan Quintero and Radamel Falcao remained peripheral figures in the game.
But it would have taken Senegal a huge amount of discipline to keep that sort of performance up for the duration of the entire game.
Discipline, in the end, was what dumped Senegal out of the tournament, with them accumulating two more yellow cards than what Japan had. But in this game, their indiscipline wasn't just about picking up bookings.
There was no continuity to the game, as Senegal kept fouling the Colombians at every opportunity they got. The defenders sometimes proved they were over-eager to win the ball back, and in the process, bruised some Colombian limbs.
The stop-start nature of the game meant that Senegal could not build any momentum at any point in the game, even if they tried. That proved detrimental for the likes of Mane and Keita Balde, who would have loved to have built up a head of speed.
There was no point in the game, when Senegal had Colombia on the rocks, and that meant a largely comfortable afternoon for David Ospina, who was barely tested by the Senegalese attackers.
#1 Shoddy defending
It is easy to say that it was a brilliant header from Yerry Mina that consigned Senegal to this defeat, but it was a largely avoidable goal to concede again, just like the goals they conceded in the previous game against Japan.
With the height and aerial prowess that Senegal possess in their ranks, it really is criminal to concede goals off set-pieces. Yerry Mina is a big unit himself, but especially given that he scored a headed goal in Colombia's last game, he should have been marked much tighter than he eventually was.
These momentary lapses in concentration have proved to be Senegal's undoing throughout this tournament. Even against Japan, after going into a 2-1 lead, they allowed the ball to linger in their box for too long, without actually clearing their lines, and Keisuke Honda made them pay for it.
For Aliou Cisse's men, this was their first World Cup, and they will be better for the experience. Given the average age and the talent that is present in the squad, it is safe to assume that we will see a lot more of this side running up to Qatar 2022, and maybe, when they look back, they'll feel that if they defended better, we could've all seen a lot more of them at Russia 2018 itself.
Agree with our list? Disagree? Tell us in the comments below!
