Great Britain 1 Senegal 1
Great Britain 1 Senegal 1, Old Trafford, Olympic Match, July 26, 2012. Ryan Giggs hit out at referee Ravshan Irmatov following Great Britain´s disappointing 1-1 draw with Senegal. The hosts took the lead courtesy of a goal by Craig Bellamy in the 20th minute, only for The Lions of Teranga to level the score with only eight minutes left thanks to Moussa Konate.
The men’s football tournament started before the opening ceremonies as it was held in Cardiff, Coventry, Glasgow, London, Manchester, and Newcastle from the 26th of July to the 11th of August. At Old Trafford, Great Britain played attacking football from the start against Senegal, but the Senegalese players used every trick in the book to try and prevent Stuart Pearce´s team from scoring during the game. In the aftermath, Manchester United´s Ryan Giggs, who was one of the three over-age players selected for Great Britain to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics, accused the match official of giving no protection to the home side in their opening clash against Abdoukarime Diouf´s men. Ryan Giggs: “All you want is a bit of protection. You don’t want anyone to get sent off, but there were a few naughty challenges in there, a few of our lads are probably struggling for the United Arab Emirates on Sunday now, which is disappointing when you only have eighteen players to choose from. I don’t know how many fouls Sadio Mane had, but in a Premiership game he would probably have been sent off three times.” Great Britain Team: Jack Butland, Micah Richards, Steven Caulker, Neil Taylor, Ryan Bertrand, Tom Cleverley, Craig Bellamy, Joe Allen, Daniel Sturridge, Danny Rose, Ryan Giggs. Substitutes: Craig Dawson, James Tomkins, Jack Cork, Aaron Ramsey, Scott Sinclair, Marvin Sordell, Jason Steele. Senegal Team: Ousmane Mane, Pape Souare, Saliou Ciss, Abdoulaye Ba, Papa Gueye, Zargo Toure, Moussa Konate, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Diame, Idrissa Gueye, Ibrahima Balde. Substitutes: Cheikhou Kouyate, Kara Mbodj, Ibrahima Seck, Kalidou Yero, Magaye Gueye, Stephane Badji, Papa Demba Camara.
UNITED FEATURES UNITED REPORTS UNITED REVIEWS UNITED STORIES