TORONTO (AP) 鈥� Senegal needed to win and it needed to win big. Done and done.
Senegal racked up the goals on a 10-man Iraq in a 5-0 victory Friday that helped advance it to the knockout stages.
鈥淭he job is done, but fate is no longer in our hands,” Senegal coach Pape Thiaw said. “We have to wait until the other matches are over.鈥�
Later in the day, it was no worries. The dominant win paid off as Senegal made it through to the next round by virtue of Iran’s 1-1 draw with Egypt in Seattle. Senegal’s opponent in the next round has not been determined.
Pape Gueye scored twice in a second-half flurry as the Senegalese 鈥� vying to advance from third place in Group I 鈥� took advantage of a first-half red card on Iraq defender Rebin Sulaka, who prevented Sadio Mane from going in on goal alone by yanking his shirt.
Habib Diarra scored in the fourth minute and even though Sulaka was sent off in the 13th, Senegal didn鈥檛 find the net again until Ismaila Sarr鈥檚 goal in the 56th minute.
Gueye then added his two goals, both hard blasts from around the edge of the penalty area, and Iliman Ndiaye netted Senegal鈥檚 fifth.
Senegal finished the group with three points and a plus-two goal differential. The eight best third-place teams advance to the Round of 32.
鈥淲e had to score as many goals as possible,鈥� Gueye said. 鈥淪o there you go.鈥�
Diarra was already confident Senegal will be among the teams that move on.
鈥淭hey gave us problems, but we solved them,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e played a great match, both collectively and individually. Now, here we are. I can say we鈥檙e focused on our next match.鈥�
Iraq was eliminated without a point in its first World Cup appearance since 1986.
鈥淚 want to apologize for our fans, for our (country), these three games,鈥� Iraq defender Merchas Doski said.
Iraq coach Graham Arnold said just qualifying for the tournament was a miracle.
鈥淗opefully the players will go away from this enjoying the experience of being in the World Cup for the first time in 40 years,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut also learning from mistakes.鈥�
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Alexandria Smith is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
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