After Senegal suffered a cruel elimination from World Cup, going from 2-0 up in the 85th minute, to a 2-3 defeat against Belgium with a controversial penalty in the 125th minute, midfielder Pape Gueye, who plays for Villarreal in Spain, has said he will "take a break" from the national team until the current coaching staff changes.
"I will come back to say a few words about the elimination... but I am announcing today that as long as this coaching staff is in place, I will be taking a break from the national team", Gueye said on Instagram after the match. Gueye, 27 years old, scored twice against Iraq in group stage, but was removed from the pitch by coach Pape Thiaw in the 66th minute, a decision he protested because he was feeling physically well.
Under Pape Thiaw, Senegal has come close to big successes in football only to be denied in the most cruel ways. To this probably underserving elimination from World Cup, the incident that marked the team was that the Confederation of African Football (CAF), stripped them of their Africa Cup of Nations title won in January: they won the match, but after a 17-minute protest in which the players left the match in protest for another controversial penalty.
In March, CAF ruled that Senegal players had broken the rule, and therefore the result was declared null and Morocco were declared winners. Senegal is currently waiting for an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
