Senegal star Pape Gueye has withdrawn from international duty, sparking a dispute with head coach Pape Thiau. The Villarreal midfielder announced after the 3-2 World Cup defeat to Belgium that he would be leaving the team while the current technical staff remained in their posts.
The 27-year-old revealed his shocking decision on social media after the African team was left reeling from the World Cup. Senegal scored two goals in two and a half minutes against Belgium in the Round of 32, surrendering their advantage and losing 2-3 in extra time. Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr gave Senegal a formidable advantage and looked poised to secure a spot in Tuesday’s Round of 16 clash with the United States. But goals from Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans rescued Rudi Garcia’s side, with the Aston Villa star clinching the win with a penalty in the 125th minute.
In a message posted on his Instagram Story, the 27-year-old said: “We will talk about the selection later…but today I will announce that as long as I am on this technical staff, I will be taking a break from the selection.” With Senegal holding on to a two-goal cushion, Gueye was removed just after time expired and Thiau brought on Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara. The game came alive in the final 10 minutes when Romelu Lukaku fired a shot from a narrow angle to pull the score to one point.
After cutting the lead in half, Tielemans headed in Leandro Trossard’s shot before Senegal could properly rebuild. Belgium were soundly beaten by Senegal in second place until they had the chance to make a dramatic comeback.
Tielemans sealed a stunning comeback for Garcia’s side with a spot-kick awarded at the end of the second period of extra time following the intervention of the video assistant referee. Speaking after the loss, Thiau said: “We lost a really important match. We wanted to earn a spot on the Senegalese team and we thought we deserved it, but unfortunately we were eliminated.”
“I’m sad, and the players are sad too, because they really wanted this.” Gueye, who scored twice in the 5-0 win over Iraq, was sent off shortly after the hour mark to be replaced by Kamara. The 45-year-old hinted that certain substitutions were needed after players asked to be sent off.
Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye and Sunderland’s Khabib Diarra were sent off in the second period before the comeback, while Sadio Mane and Idrissa Gana Gueye were sent off in extra time. Thiau said: “They were tired and couldn’t continue. It was unprofessional of us to leave them on the field. We had to replace them.”
“Of course, when you lead 2-0 and lose the match, people inevitably talk about substitutions. But everything can’t be reduced to that. These changes were mainly determined by fatigue, rather than tactical considerations.”
Belgium will face the United States in the next round, where Mauricio Pochettino’s side defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0. Florian Balogun experienced a contrasting fate as he found the back of the net before receiving his marching orders, but Malik Tillman stopped their advance eight minutes before the scheduled time.
Wednesday’s defeat represents the latest controversy in what has been a tumultuous few months for Senegalese football, following Thiau’s decision to lead his players off the pitch during the dramatic African Cup of Nations final against Morocco. Senegal awarded the hosts a penalty in stoppage time, causing the tactician to protest the decision and have his players removed from the field.
The match eventually went on and Senegal shocked Morocco in extra time to secure a historic victory, but it was later ruled that the match would be forfeited for abandoning the pitch in the 90th minute.
