Matsuki long-ranger sinks Senegal in Group C opener

Kuryu Matsuki's first-half strike earned Japan all three points in their Group C opener against Senegal.

A well-taken Kuryu Matsuki strike from the edge of the area proved enough for Japan to earn all three points from their opening Fifa U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023™ encounter with Senegal at La Plata Stadium.

Matsuki almost opened the scoring early on, when he glanced a header wide of the far post that he would have liked to have done better with. He quickly made up for that miss after a quarter of an hour, when he drilled a left-footed effort from 25 yards into the bottom-right hand corner.

Senegal didn't take that hit lying down, though, and responded soon after when Souleymane Faye played captain Samba Diallo through to fire home. Replays showed that Faye was offside, however, and the goal was rightfully chalked off.

The Young Lions of Teranga continued to push in the second half, but failed to trouble Ryoya Kimura in the Japan goal as their Asian counterparts saw the game out.

Senegal and Japan will return to Group C action on Wednesday when they take on Israel and Colombia respectively.

The stat

2

Sunday's loss to Japan ensured Senegal were defeated on the opening day of the U-20 World Cup for just the second time, with the result joining a 3-0 defeat to Portugal at New Zealand 2015.