Senegal
- who scored a stunning 1-0 upset of champions France in the
tournament's opening match - ended Sweden's 16-match unbeaten streak
in Oita, Japan.
Camara
said: "The coach told me 'only winning counts'. So, we went out
and won and there's nothing more to say."
Senegal's
French coach Bruno Metsu, Muslim, said he did not mind who his team
faced in the quarter-finals.
"We
would be happy to play Japan in Japan but coming up against Turkey
will be very different," he said. "I'm optimistic that we
can go forward to the semi-finals."
The
African Continent, meanwhile, witnessed one of glory days Sunday.
Traffic ground to a halt in cities around Africa with people dancing
in the streets to salute Senegal's win.
From
Mozambique to Mali, it was a festival of green, yellow and red Sunday
as Africans danced in the streets and honked their horns, claiming
Senegal's win through to the quarterfinals as their own.
Thousands
of rapturous fans poured into the streets of Dakar, laughing and
cheering after the Lions - appearing in their first World Cup ever.
Scrawled
cockily on a sidewalk by Independence Square was the slogan "next
victims: Japan, England, Italy in the final."
A
young woman held her hands in the air, lost in a speechless trance,
while another fan nearby wept quietly for joy.
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A Sweden soccer fan
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A
cacophony of horns sounded in Abidjan, Ivory Coast where Cocody
University exploded with joy, while in Kinshasa in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) people paraded taxis and bicycles up and down
the main Boulevard 30 Juin, feting the Senegalese team.
In
Maputo, a conference hall where the ruling party FRELIMO was holding a
congress shook when delegates learned of the victory, and Mozambique
President Joaquim Chissano congratulated the winning team himself.
"This
is too good for Africa! I almost want to cry," said one
shopkeeper in Abidjan, AFP reported.
"For
me, first there were the Blues and then the African teams," said
football fan Mamadou, referring to the French title-holding team,
going down 1-0 in their opening match against Senegal and eliminated
from the first round without scoring a single goal.
"The
Blues are out, long live the Lions!" he said, referring to
Senegal's team nickname. "They play for Senegal, but they're
playing for me, for us, for Africans!"
"Senegal's
victory is Africa's," said one fan in the midst of victory
celebrations in the west African country of Mauritania.
Much
the same sentiment on the Lions came from Mali, Gambia, Niger and the
DRC: it was a victory for the entire African continent
