Author: Amrit Santlani
For the first time since the 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup, Brazil conceded four goals as the Seleção lost 4-2 to Senegal in an international friendly. Sadio Mané scored twice to help Senegal record a come-from-behind victory in Lisbon on Tuesday.
Five-time FIFA World Cup winners Brazil are currently without a permanent coach,
as Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti seems to have agreed to take over next year when his current contract expires.
In the absence of a full-time coach, Ramon Menezes, coach of the under-20 team, has been acting as interim since Tite resigned after the Qatar World Cup, but the Seleção have already suffered a few vexations, including a 1-0 defeat to Morocco, which was another friendly, and now to Senegal.
The Brazilians started the game well and showed their intent early on when Bruno Guimarães shot over the bar after a promising run and a cut-back from Vinicius Junior. Just 10 minutes after the start of the game, the Seleção opened the scoring through Lucas Paquetá, who headed in after a cross from Vini.
Richarlison had a great chance to make it 2-0, but the striker missed a great opportunity, shooting narrowly wide. Senegal also tried to reduce the deficit when Habib Diallo’s header attempt sailed over the bar. Vinicius was causing the Senegalese all sorts of problems and almost got a penalty after being fouled inside the area, but the striker had come out just before the attack.
Diallo scored Senegal’s equalizer in the 22nd minute with a powerful shot that gave Ederson no chance.
Ismaïla Sarr had a chance on Ederson’s goal and threatened to open the scoring, but Ederson made a good save shortly after half time. Just before half-time, Danilo curled in an incredible free-kick that was saved by Mory Diaw. At the start of the second half, Aliou Cissé’s men opened the scoring when Marquinhos inadvertently scored an own goal while trying to stop an attack.
Three minutes later, Sadio Mané struck a fine shot from the edge of the box to put Senegal 3-1 up and firmly in control. The drama didn’t end there, as Marquinhos scored at the other end, deflecting home a looping shot, reducing the deficit to 3-2 for the Seleção.
Gradually, the match started to become a brutal battle, with challenges breaking out and players from both sides having to be cautioned by the referee. Richarlison tried a shot late on, but it was saved by the Senegalese goalkeeper, before Ederson conceded a penalty for a clumsy challenge, which Mané duly converted.
The Brazilians had a penalty turned down before their African opponents formed a counter-attack, leading to the fourth goal that sealed Senegal’s historic triumph.
Meanwhile, in other important friendlies on Tuesday, Germany suffered a 0-2 defeat to Colombia, with Luis Diaz and Juan Cuadrado causing Hansi Flick more grief, while Malaysia thrashed Papua New Guinea 10-0.
Uruguay beat Cuba 2-0 with goals from Maximiliano Araujo and Facundo Torres. In another match, Chile drew 0-0 with Bolivia, while Ecuador beat Costa Rica 3-1. Enner Valencia, Willian Pacho and Pedro Vite scored for Ecuador, while Joel Campbell managed to pull one back with a consolation goal.