By Aliyu Yakubu Yusuf
The reigning champions and the best national team in the continent, Senegal, had met its waterloo at the hands of the host, Ivory Coast, who must be buoyant, having qualified to the Round of 16 by the skin of their teeth when all around them was doom and gloom.
The Teranga Lions entered the tournament as the undisputed favourites to record a back-to-back triumph. They justified their billing by becoming the only country to win all three group games, often at a canter. The stage was set for Mane and Co. to dominate the knockout stages. However, the Ivorians read a different script.
The Elephants came into the tournament as the host country with little expectations. Gone are the days of Drogba, Yaya and Kolo Toure, Kalou and Zokora. So, one expected the host to mount a serious title challenge. But no one expected them to lose embarrassingly to Equatorial Guinea either. Ultimately, they qualified into the knockouts as the worst of all the 16 entrants. Few people gave them a chance to overcome the swaggering Senegal. And that’s what they just did.
Such is the cruel nature of winner-takes-all international football. The Ivorians must now be cautiously optimistic about their chances, having surmounted the most difficult of obstacles. Senegal must be ruing what might have been while they lick their wounds.