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Senegal Rejoices, France Awaits Zizou
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Zinedine-Jean-Pierre
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DAKAR,
May 31 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Senegalese football fans,
including President Abdoulaye Wade, took to the streets Friday to
noisily celebrate their team's stunning victory over defending world
champion France in the opening round of the 2002 World Cup in Seoul.
Senegal,
qualified for World Cup finals for the very first time in its history,
secured what will go down as one of the most famous mega-weight
surprises in World Cup history thanks to a 30th-minute goal from
midfielder Pape Bouba Diop in the Group A clash.
"Incredible,
incredible," a young student named Sall repeated over and over
again, minutes after the final whistle in the match between the
Senegalese Lions and France's Blues sounded and hundreds of Senegalese
fans poured onto the streets, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Jubilant
Lions' fans gathered in the central Place de l'Independance (The
Independence ) in the capital, Dakar, sounding their car horns in a
cacophony of joy, an AFP reporter said. Senegal was a former French
colony.
One
overjoyed fan in the central square was brandishing a chicken and a
cooking pot, in a humorous reference to France, whose sporting emblem
is a rooster, being devoured by Senegal's Lions.
"Tonight,
everyone in Senegal is going to eat chicken!" cried an exuberant
Diakite.
The
number of fans in the square swelled rapidly, before the jubilant
supporters - many dressed in the national team's green, yellow and red
stripes and waving the Senegalese flag - marched joyfully towards the
Presidential palace.
Wade
came out of the building and, wrapped in the Senegalese flag, set off
on a victory drive through the streets of Dakar in an open-top
four-wheel-drive vehicle, to the delight of his fellow fans.
"This
is a great victory for Senegal, but it doesn't surprise me - I knew
our team would win," said Wade.
"What
does surprise me," the president added, "is that they didn't
score two goals.
After
this win - after beating France, the world champion - the Lions can
come back home. All the same, I want to ask them to stay and defend
the colors of Africa."
School
children and teachers were given the day off from school, and many
shops, businesses and even government offices remained closed or
rescheduled working hours to allow their employees to watch the
opening match of the World Cup.
As
soon as Diop scored the first goal of the 2002 17th World Cup,
Senegalese supporters were convinced their beloved Lions had the match
sewn up and were set to go down in football history.
Outside
a bar in downtown Dakar, Senegalese supporters rubbed shoulders with
expatriate French fans as they watched the match live on a wide-screen
set up for the occasion.
When
the match ended, fans of France's Blues slunk off sheepishly, looking
as if they were suffering a good dose of their team's moniker, while
the Lions' supporters positively roared with delight.
"Lots
of people think that, because Senegal beat world champion France, we
are now world champion ourselves. There's hardly any point in
continuing in the competition," joked one Senegalese sports
journalist.
Before
the match, few Senegalese dared to imagine that their fledgling team,
a rank outsider participating in its first World Cup, could beat the
revered world champions.
"But,
in a way, it's a victory for France, too," one young fan said to
console a crestfallen French supporter.
"Nearly
all the Lions play in France, and the national coach, Bruno Metsu, is
French," he told the blue backer of the beaten Blues.
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin placed his hopes
in a speedy return of injured star player Zinedine Zidane after the
country's shock defeat by Senegal.
"Now
it's a question of mobilization. A first match is not a result, it's a
stage," he said, AFP reported.
He
said things would improve "as soon as Zizou has taken his place
in the center and is feeding Trezeguet and Henry -- who lacked a bit
of organization.
"They
showed plenty of talent, but as soon as Zizou is there it will be
fine," the Prime Minister said.
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