Senegal gets an assist from ref
Senegal midfielder Mbaye Niang saw the signal from the referee to re-enter following treatment for an injury and jogged along the center line. Then Niang noticed Poland’s Grzegorz Krychowiak loft a backpass to Jan Bednarek, who hadn’t realized Niang was back on the field.
Niang outsprinted goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to reach the ball about 40 yards from the net, knocked the ball forward and tapped it in for Senegal’s second fluky goal of the night. The Lions of Teranga held on for a 2-1 win over Poland in Moscow and opened the World Cup with a surprising victory — just like in 2002.
“You have to deserve your luck,” Niang said. “We were rewarded today for our work. You have to seize your chances when they are given to you.”
Senegal became the first African team to win at this year’s World Cup after Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia all lost.
It went ahead in the 37th minute when Thiago Cionek’s attempted block of Idrissa Gueye’s shot deflected and wrong-footed Szczesny, who was picked to start over fellow Arsenal castoff Lukasz Fabianski.
After Niang doubled the lead in the 60th, Krychowiak headed in Kamil Grosicki’s free kick in the 86th minute, ending a streak of five straight scoreless openers for Poland.
“Two goals following our mistakes was something that we were very unhappy with,” Poland coach Adam Nawalka said.
Senegal is tied for the group lead with Japan, which upset Colombia 2-1. Senegal will play Japan on Sunday, when Poland meets Colombia.
Poland fans in red and white were about three-quarters of the crowd of 44,190 as their nation returned to the World Cup for the first time since 2006. Poland kept up its dismal streak of World Cup starts — it has four losses and three draws since beating Argentina in 1974.
Poland shifted to a threeman backline at the start of the second half, and Niang had been off the field after Jan Bednarek stomped on a foot. Referee Nawaf Shukralla of Bahrain, a veteran of two World Cup matches in 2014, waved Niang to come back on the field just as Krychowiak lofted a backpass from the center circle to Szczesny. Niang let it bounce twice, knocked the ball past the goalkeeper and then sprinted to catch up as the ball bounced three more times. He tapped it into the open net from about 8 yards.
“Real unlucky situation,” Szczesny said. “Usually they keep him on the sideline for a little bit longer.”
Still, he didn’t fault the referee.
“That’s looking for an alibi for us,” he said. “It was a silly goal from our point.”
Japan 2, Colombia 1: Yuya Osako had a surprise in store for those who thought the absence of Shinji Okazaki left Japan little hope of competing with Colombia at the World Cup.
Oasko’s gritty determination to set up one goal and his 73rdminute header from Keisuke Honda’s corner kick lifted Japan to a surprising victory over the Colombians in Saransk.
Osako won a bouncing ball to begin an early sequence that led to a penalty, put Colombia a man down and gave Japan a 1-0 lead when Shinji Kagawa converted from the spot.
Colombia had to play all but the opening minutes with 10 men after Carlos Sanchez received a red card for blocking Kagawa’s shot on goal with his extended right arm.