Senegal were not short of support on Tuesday at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow when beating Poland 2-1, in spite of the overwhelming crowd of Poles and their other European supporters.
An estimated 95 per cent of the stadium crowd of 44,190 must have been rooting for Poland during the Group H match.
Many of them were Poles who came in across the borders, while many others were Russians and other Europeans who felt their affinities lay with Poland.
But, Senegal were not alone as other Africans were in the crowd fervently praying and rooting for the West Africans, ostensibly because they wanted the Lions to win for Africa.
They had cause to smile and dance as Senegal had the match under control for most moments of the game.
Even, in the VIP stands of the stadium, Senegal had another segment of supporters.
Senegalese President, Macky Fall, was there with the country’s Ambassador to Russia, Abdousalam Diallo, alongside ambassadors of six other African countries to Russia.
They are from Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Mali, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
Confederation of African Football (CAF) President, Ahmad Ahmad; FIFA Secretary-General, Fatma Samoura; former Senegal striker, Khalilou Fadiga and former Cote D’Ivorie Captain, Didier Drogba, were also on the stand and strengthened the support.
