Senegal defender Krepin Diatta has admitted that his side failed after the extra-time defeat to Belgium in their round of 32 game on Wednesday, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Teranga Lions raced to a two-goal lead thanks to goals from Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr in the opening hour of the contest. However, Belgium staged a comeback in the last ten minutes of the game with goals from Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans to force extra time before Tielemans converted a stoppage-time spot-kick to send the Red Devils through.
Speaking after the game, the Monaco fullback did not hold back, as he felt they should have done better and progressed at the expense of the Belgians, who were the underdogs before the fixture.
“We shouldn’t have lost that match at that moment,” a disappointed Diatta said after the game in Seattle.
”The team lacked character. In the final minutes, we had to give everything; even if it meant putting our foot in everywhere to win the duels, we had to do it. There are things that need to be reviewed. We failed. There is no excuse. The people deserve better,” Diatta concluded.
Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw admitted that his boys gave their all, but it was not just enough to seal progression.
“We’re out – it hurts. We must congratulate the team, who gave it their all, but unfortunately we weren’t able to hold on to our two-goal lead. Congratulations to the Belgian team, who have gone through. We have to accept this – that’s football. It wasn’t easy; we tried to lift their spirits and bring more energy to the team. It’s not easy because they gave it their all; we wanted to qualify for the people,” Thiaw said.
