AL RAYYAN, Qatar (AP) — Kalidou Koulibaly actually drew inspiration on his captain’s armband, writing the No. 19 on it in reminiscence of one among Senegal’s most cherished gamers.Then Koulibaly grew to become one himself.The Senegal captain scored the profitable aim within the 2-1 victory over Ecuador on Tuesday, placing his crew into the spherical of 16 on the World Cup regardless of the absence of the injured Sadio Mane, the crew’s finest participant and top-of-the-line strikers on the planet.The No. 19 was to honor Papa Bouba Diop, the Senegal midfielder who scored the profitable aim towards defending champion France within the opening sport of the 2002 World Cup. It was one among Senegal’s best soccer moments and a victory that began that crew’s run to the quarterfinals — nonetheless Senegal’s finest efficiency.“We wished to make him proud. We wished to offer homage to him,” Koulibaly mentioned of Diop, who died on the age of 42 precisely two years in the past Tuesday. “He was the one who made me dream after I was a boy. This was one thing we weren’t going to let slip.“Thank God I used to be there to ship that ball into the again of the web.”Solely a win towards Ecuador would have taken Senegal by way of to the following spherical from Group A, and Koulibaly scored the aim that made it occur at Khalifa Worldwide Stadium.A free kick from Idrissa Gueye bounced off an opponent and got here his method. Koulibaly threw out his proper foot and hit it previous Ecuador goalkeeper Hernan Galindez within the seventieth minute. Koulibaly then sprinted towards the nook flag and slid on his knees to have a good time.The African champions took the lead after a first-half penalty from Ismaila Sarr. However Moises Caicedo evened the rating when he was left unmarked after a nook kick within the 67th minute.At 1-1, Ecuador was going to advance and Senegal was out.That end result would have been as agonizing as Senegal’s early elimination 4 years in the past, when the crew completed the group stage with a loss to Colombia and even on factors with Japan. Senegal was eradicated on a good play rule as a result of it had picked up two extra yellow playing cards than the Japanese.This yr, Senegal coach Aliou Cisse was pressured to reinvent his ahead line following the harm to Mane, who despatched the crew a message earlier than the match. Koulibaly mentioned the Bayern Munich striker has additionally been an inspiration for the crew regardless of not being in Qatar.“When it got here to his (Mane’s) harm, two thirds of the world in all probability doubted that we might be capable to qualify,” Koulibaly mentioned.Senegal misplaced its opening match towards the Netherlands 2-0 however gave itself an opportunity with a 3-1 win over host Qatar. Nonetheless, the crew wanted a victory over Ecuador.“We had been up towards a brick wall,” Cisse mentioned.The 24-year-old Sarr gained the penalty when he was knocked over by a careless problem from Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie simply earlier than halftime. He side-footed his penalty into the underside proper nook within the forty fourth minute and virtually your complete Senegal bench and training workers ran to him.Sarr additionally headed over to the nook flag to have a good time whereas placing his fingers over his eyes.He can look now, as a result of Senegal has no less than yet one more match to play.SENEGAL’S QUESTSenegal now has an opportunity match, and even higher, the nation’s scintillating run to the quarterfinals in 2002, when Cisse was the captain and the crew equaled Africa’s finest efficiency at a World Cup. No African crew has made the semifinals.ECUADOR EMOTIONIt was the tip of a robust marketing campaign for Ecuador and striker Enner Valencia, who had scored his crew’s first three targets at this yr’s World Cup and performed towards Senegal regardless of combating a nasty knee pressure. Valencia was left consoling Galindez, who was tearing up close to the tip of the sport and couldn’t maintain again after the ultimate whistle as he cried on Valencia’s shoulder.WHAT’S NEXTSenegal will play England within the spherical of 16 on Sunday. The Netherlands, which gained Group A, will face the USA on Saturday.___