Sport
London 2012: Konate scores twice as Senegal beats Uruguay 2-0
Suarez set up Ramirez’s try from inside the area while fellow striker Edinson Cavani was largely muted apart from having a 45th-minute effort cleared after he got free past Mane.
Uruguay defender Sebastian Coates also had a shot cleared off Senegal’s goal line in an up-tempo first-half played in sunshine and showers.
Kouyate scrambled to clear second-half substitute Abel Hernandez’s goal-bound shot in the 51st, but the South Americans came no closer to rallying back against a physical but disciplined Senegal, which finished with five bookings.
“We couldn’t take advantage of our opportunities, we didn’t manage that goal that would have maybe complicated the match for them a bit,” said Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez, whose team would travel by train to Cardiff to avoid any more planning problems. “The team ran and fought right up to the last minute. They beat us soundly.”
Tabarez did not expect the treatment of Suarez – banned for eight matches last season for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra during a match in October – to be a distraction with a finale against Britain.
Uruguay, which could have clinched the group with a victory, was unbeaten in winning back-to-back Olympic titles in 1924 and ’28 – the last time it played in the competition.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
