A Group A ended with a thrilling victory for the home squad and a furious 1-1 draw between Senegal and United Arab Emirates.
Senegal 1, UAE 1
UAE looked like the better squad for much of their match against Uruguay and Great Britain, so it was no surprise to see them dominate the Senegal squad to open the match. Senegal woke up at the 15 minute mark, but the UAE scored the opening tally in the 21st minute when Captain Ismaeil Matar scored off a Rashed Eisa cross.
The lead would persist into half-time but Senegal would come out ready to strike. Striker Moussa Konate, who has been a revelation in the tournament, scored his fourth goal of the tournament when he headed the ball in at the 49 minute mark and secured his squad passage to the knockout stages. Konate leads all players in the tournament with 4 goals.
Great Britain 1, Uruguay 0
The South Americans were widely expected to run away with Group A, but did anything but that. They barely got past the UAE and then suffered a shocking loss at the hands of Senegal. The atmosphere was electric as the home crowd cheered on their team which only needed a point to continue into the knockout stages. The team scored in stoppage time of the first half when Daniel Sturridge chipped home a Joe Allen low cross.
Uruguay pressured in the second half, but starstudded squad did nothing to secure themselves a berth into the knockout stages. Luis Suarez, who was a revelation in the 2010 World Cup and 2011 Copa America was a shadow throughout this tournament and had little to no impact on the proceedings.
Great Britain gets a shot at Korea Republic in Saturday's quarterfinals match.
Final Group Standings
Great Britain: 7 points, 2 wins, 1 draw, 5 goals for, 2 goals against, +3 goal differential
Senegal: 5 points, 1 win, 2 draws, 4 goals for, 2 goals against, +2 goal differential
Uruguay: 3 points, 1 win, 2 losses, 2 goals for, 4 goals against, -2 goal differential
UAE: 1 point, 1 draw, 2 losses, 3 goals for, 6 goals against, -3 goal differential
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