World Cup 2018: 3 Reasons why Senegal lost 0-1 to Colombia

#1 Shoddy defending

Yerry Mina scored the winning goal for Colombia

It is easy to say that it was a brilliant header from Yerry Mina that consigned Senegal to this defeat, but it was a largely avoidable goal to concede again, just like the goals they conceded in the previous game against Japan.

With the height and aerial prowess that Senegal possess in their ranks, it really is criminal to concede goals off set-pieces. Yerry Mina is a big unit himself, but especially given that he scored a headed goal in Colombia's last game, he should have been marked much tighter than he eventually was.

These momentary lapses in concentration have proved to be Senegal's undoing throughout this tournament. Even against Japan, after going into a 2-1 lead, they allowed the ball to linger in their box for too long, without actually clearing their lines, and Keisuke Honda made them pay for it.

For Aliou Cisse's men, this was their first World Cup, and they will be better for the experience. Given the average age and the talent that is present in the squad, it is safe to assume that we will see a lot more of this side running up to Qatar 2022, and maybe, when they look back, they'll feel that if they defended better, we could've all seen a lot more of them at Russia 2018 itself.

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