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| June 1, 2002 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 19,1423 |
Whirlwind of joy sweeps through Dakar
DAKAR, May 31: A whirlwind of joy and national pride swept through Senegal on Friday as the national side clinched a 1-0 opening game victory over defending champions France in their World Cup finals debut.
One group of young men held roosters aloft and slit their throats to symbolise the downfall of the French, whose sporting symbol is a crowing cock.
“We’re going to have that cock for dinner tonight,” said Lamine Ndiaye, a pair of live roosters dangling from his hands.
As the final whistle blew, thousands of people spilled on to the streets of central Dakar, the city that was the capital of France’s West African empire before independence in 1960.
Cars and motorcycles laden with passengers forged their way through crowds of people waving national flags of red, gold and green.
“This is an historic day. We have done the unthinkable,” shouted a disbelieving Maimouna Diop above the roar of cheering.
President Abdoulaye Wade, who turned 76 on Wednesday, made an impromptu tour of the city’s streets balancing on the roof of a four-wheel drive car holding a football in the air and cheering at the milling fans.
“The French thought we shouldn’t even be at the World Cup — now we’ve shown them otherwise,” one man grinned.
A special giant projection screen being erected on a beach facing the Atlantic Ocean was not ready in time for the match, leading to anger and frustration among some would-be viewers.
Others paid to watch at the national theatre, some shedding tears of delight after Pape Bouba Diop scored in the 30th minute of the opening match in Seoul.
“I’m going home now, that was all I was waiting for,” said one man after the goal.
For the rest of the match fans watched on tenterhooks, letting out gasps of relief and groans of disappointment as the ball rebounded off the bar at both ends before goalkeeper Tony Sylva defied a last-ditch French onslaught.
Defeating the former colonial masters was the dream of many Senegalese in the build-up to the match.
All but two of Senegal’s squad are based in France and the team is coached by Frenchman Bruno Metsu, but only five of the French players are home-based.
“The French look down on us. Whatever happens in the World Cup now is unimportant, we have done what we had to,” said one taxi driver blowing his horn in delight.
In Paris, French supporters reeled in shock.
Heads in hands, fans who snuck out from work to watch the match during extended lunch breaks in Paris let out a collective groan at the final whistle, stunned at their team’s lacklustre performance.
As they left in dribs and drabs, subdued supporters who had started the match speculating about whether they would retain the title, finished it fretting over whether France could still qualify for the knockout stages.
From the president down, the French stopped work on Friday to watch the match, with nerves frayed by the absence of Zidane.
Before the match, offices around the country doubled up as bookmakers as people traded bets on the match score. Internet chat rooms buzzed with banter on the chances of “Les Bleus” retaining the title they won for the first time four years ago.
With the match kicking off at 1:30 p.m. local time (1130 GMT), many people took the day off and those at the office got little work done.—Reuters
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