If he was watching on TV, Luis Enrique must have particularly enjoyed the last 15 minutes of the match between France and Senegal, which kicked off Group I of the .
The Paris Saint-Germain coach would no doubt have appreciated the composure shown by France’s Bradley Barcola, one of his star players in the French capital, for his well-taken goal in the 82nd minute. But the winner of The Best FIFA Men’s Coach award would surely have been particularly delighted when another of his young protégés, Ibrahim Mbaye, scored a fine goal to reduce Senegal’s arrears to 2-1.
Whilst it was not enough to reel in Les Bleus, who ultimately won 3-1 thanks to a standout display from Kylian Mbappe, the goal’s significance for the Lions of Teranga’s remaining matches cannot be underestimated. Senegal breached the rearguard of one of the title favourites and nearly snatched a point, so there were surely a lot of positives to take away from their opening match in the competition.
“If you look at how the match unfolded, we could easily have been 2-0 up,” said coach Pape Thiaw afterwards. “France were more effective than us after half-time, so congratulations to them. We made mistakes every time they had a chance. It all started with us giving the ball away too easily. So now we need to focus on our other two matches to pick up six points.”
Mbaye’s dazzling run against France was reminiscent of some of the very best. After wrong-footing Lucas Hernandez, the young striker unleashed an explosive shot that even Mike Maignan could not stop.
“I thought to myself, ‘It’s 2-0, it’s the 90th minute, why go backwards?’” said the youngster when asked about his goal. “So, naturally, I went for it, I managed to get past the defender, I shot and, with a bit of luck, I scored. […] Scoring my first goal at the World Cup is obviously a source of immense pride for me, and it’s a boost to my confidence and for the team as well.”
At the age of 18 years and 142 days, Mbaye also became the youngest-ever African goalscorer at a World Cup, breaking the record previously held by his compatriot Moussa Wague, who netted in a 2-2 draw with Japan at the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ in Russia at the age of 19 years and 268 days.
“I thought about my family, because everyone was here – my brothers and sisters – so, naturally, afterwards they all congratulated me on my goal,” he continued. “It’s great to score my first World Cup goal at the age of 18, and of course, breaking a record made it even better – it’s incredible. I hope I can beat some more records.”
Will Mbaye have the chance to make a little more history against Norway on Monday, 22 June, once again in New York New Jersey? Since making his international debut last November, he has made 12 appearances for the national team, and he has certainly repaid Thiaw’s faith by scoring four goals so far.
Having started just twice, this attacking sensation could now shake up the pecking order after his impressive start to his World Cup campaign. For the time being, the coach is sidestepping the issue. At the pre-match press conference, he even went so far as to reiterate his confidence in the trio of Sadio Mane, Nicolas Jackson and Ismaila Sarr.
“I don’t think the attack that started [against France] was bad; it was just lacking in effectiveness, and personally, I prefer players who create chances to those who don’t,” said Thiaw. “When a team creates goalscoring opportunities, it’s definitely a good thing; let’s hope we’ll have some tomorrow [Monday] because it’s an important match – we need to score goals to move forward.”
Should Senegal find themselves in trouble against Erling Haaland and co., Thiaw would surely not hesitate to call upon Mbaye’s passion and talent again, perhaps even before the 75th minute this time. If he does, Luis Enrique can likely expect more excitement on TV.
Sources: FIFA Official
