In the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, the Chinese men's football team entered the World Cup finals for the first time and made a historic breakthrough. It's not just that there are no people before, but it may be that there are no people who have come after. But in that World Cup, the brightest rookie was not our men's team, but Senegal from Africa.
That year, they not only reached the World Cup finals, but also qualified from the group and eventually reached the quarter-finals. Along the way, they cut down many strong teams, and even the defending champions at the time, France, were not opponents. Without a doubt, Senegal was the strongest rookie in that year's World Cup.
Many people may not be familiar with Senegal or even hear of it. No way, as a small, remote country on the west coast of Africa, Senegal is really difficult to get famous. However, next to Senegal, there is a very famous African country.
This country eats by its mouth all year round, and if its mouth is hard, even the "YouTube Five" has to bow down. They are in Africa and do not even pay attention to the P5. It seems that their dictionary only has two words written - "invincible".
The name of this mighty empire is The Gambia, and Senegal is a close neighbor. On the map, the Gambia is surrounded on three sides by Senegal, leaving only a narrow outlet to the sea on the west coast. What is even more peculiar is that the territory of the Gambia is completely distributed around the banks of the Gambia River, from west to east and deep inland, like a rectum to the prostate hinterland of Senegal.
In addition to their geographical proximity, the Gambia and Senegal have deep ties in human history. Historically, the Gambia and Senegal have long existed as a whole. For example, in the 14th century, the Gambia and Senegal were part of the Mali Empire, and then the Songhai Empire replaced Mali as the hegemon of West Africa, and the area was placed under the Songhai Empire.
In the era of black empires, the Gambia and Senegal were located on the fringes of civilization and developed relatively closed. However, in the 15th century, with the beginning of the Age of Navigation, European colonists set their sights on the land. The arrival of the Portuguese, Dutch, British and French across the sea ushered in Africa's darkest era and paved the way for the separation of the Gambia and Senegal.
During that era of the slave trade, the Gambia and Senegal were the largest centers of the slave trade in Africa. Because of its remote location, far from the center of African civilization, colonists could successfully establish colonial strongholds and hunt black slaves. At the same time, it was the closest to the American continent, which allowed the voyage of the slave trade to be shortened, thereby reducing transportation costs.
The unique advantages of the slave trade made the Gambia and Senegal the sweet potato of the colonizers, who everyone wanted to claim for themselves, which led to fierce competition. In this battle, the Portuguese and Dutch were eliminated one after another, and in the end, only the British and French were left to face each other. They occupy the banks of the Gambia River and the Senegal River basin.
Although in terms of overall strength, Britain had more advantages as a global maritime hegemon at that time. But in Africa, France is not much weaker than Britain. Therefore, the battle between the two sides over the Gambia and Senegal gradually turned into a tug-of-war, and no one could help the other in a short time.
It was not cost-effective to kill you or me for a colony, so in the end, the two sides chose to make peace, and in 1783 signed the African version of the Treaty of Versailles, which determined the territory of both sides in the form of law, of which the Gambia River still belongs to Britain, while France continues to rule near the Senegal River. In this way, the Gambia and Senegal were officially separated, thus beginning their respective histories.
In the 60s, with the rise of the wave of African independence, European colonists rolled up and went home, Senegal and the Gambia were able to free themselves from colonial rule and complete their independence in 1960 and 1965. It stands to reason that, without the constraints of the colonizers, Senegal and the Gambia should be able to become one and become one family again. However, hundreds of years of colonial experience have profoundly changed the two countries, creating many differences that make it difficult for the two sides to pee together.
If nothing else, the Gambia under the British is English-speaking, while Senegal under the French is mainly French-speaking, and there is a considerable gap in cultural exchanges between the two countries. So in reality, after independence, the two countries did not come together, but continued to go their separate ways. Although the two countries tried to merge and unify in 1982, they were unsuccessful.
Among them, the Gambia rose strongly under the leadership of Veterinary Father Jawara and President Jammeh, and gradually became a powerful country ceiling above the "YouTube Five". According to statistics, the Gambia has a "huge" armed force of thousands of people, and the army, sea and air forces are gathered, and the lineup can be said to be quite "luxurious".
The Gambian Navy is ten times the size of the Mongolian Navy, with about 70 soldiers and 6 gunboats. Unless the Mongolian navy relies on its home field advantage in the Ulaanbaatar Strait, it will be difficult to compete with the Gambia.
The Gambian Army, on the other hand, has never been equipped with a single tank, and AKs and RPGs are their main battle equipment. This means that they have completely departed from the traditional mode of operation, perfectly interpreting that offense is the best defense.
As for the Gambian Air Force, it is even more ridiculously strong, fully equipped with 3 agricultural aircraft that cannot be lifted off due to failure. In today's world, it is impossible for anyone to defeat the Gambian Air Force in the air, and they are not even qualified to suck the exhaust of other aircraft.
With its arrogant performance of force, the Gambia has successfully won the "respect" of the world. However, it is a pity that the Gambia has affected the domestic economic development due to excessive emphasis on military construction.
The Gambia is a congenitally backward country in the economic field, and it needs resources without resources and population. The reason why the British came to this place was only because it was convenient for the slave trade. With the abolition of the slave trade in the 19th century, the Gambia's only selling point no longer existed. At this time, the British valued the political value of Gambia more and used it as a wedge embedded in the French colonies in West Africa.
Since there is no economic value, naturally there can be no talk of economic construction. So during the British rule, the Gambia's economic development was quite slow, and the most valuable thing in the country was peanuts. After independence, because the leaders were all concerned about the world and neglected internal affairs, the Gambia's already not wealthy families were even worse, and even food and clothing became a problem.
Of course, this is not a problem for the powerful Gambia, after all, other countries have more food. Under the strong military deterrence of the Gambia, who dares to refuse the Gambia's door-to-door "begging"? You must know that the Soviet Union was just a little less handout, and it was sent a war letter by the Gambia. Jawara put aside his bold words and captured the entire territory of the Soviet Union in seven days. Although no troops were sent in the end, the Soviet Union, which lived in the shadow of the Gambia, was still in panic, and eventually collapsed.
The continued economic decay has left The Gambia still destitute, and has long been among the world's least developed countries. According to statistics, the Gambia's per capita GDP in 2021 was only $835, making it one of the 20 poorest countries in the world. Compared to the poverty of the Gambia, Senegal is undoubtedly much better.
First of all, in history, Senegal successfully played the role of transportation hub and expansion base by virtue of the geographical advantage of the Senegal River connecting the ocean in the west and the inland in the east, and was the core area of France's West African colony. So it is not as permissive as the British in the Gambia, when the French colonized Senegal, they were very attentive, almost as much as the cost of construction, like what railway banks and schools, that are all arranged. France's construction in the colonial era undoubtedly laid a good foundation for Senegal's economic development after independence.
Secondly, in terms of innate conditions, Senegal's land area is close to 200,000 square kilometers, and the population is more than 17 million, which is undoubtedly much stronger than the Gambia, which has an area of only 11,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 2.4 million. Because in general, a larger area means more resources, and more people means a larger market. From the point of view of economic development, Senegal clearly has an advantage over the Gambia.
Most crucially, of course, Senegal has kept a low profile since independence. They are not doing things everywhere like the Gambia, but have been honestly developing the economy. Moreover, Senegal has not had a major military coup since its independence in 1960, which is arguably rare among African countries. Especially compared to the Gambia next door, it is a world of difference.
After independence, the political environment in The Gambia was very unstable, with armed coups taking place from time to time. For example, in July 1981, the opposition in The Gambia took advantage of President Jawala's trip to England to attend the wedding of Prince Charles and staged a military coup in the capital Banjul, which nearly overthrew Jawara. Fortunately, Senegal sent troops to help in time, so that Jawara was not pulled to the chandelier. And it was Senegal's help that led to a brief merger between the two countries in 1982. Of course, he could not hide from the first day of junior high and could not avoid fifteen, and Jawala was finally ousted in 1994 by Lieutenant Jammeh, who also surnamed "Jia".
It is clear that Senegal's stable domestic environment has given the best soil for economic development, which will undoubtedly bring the Gambia back.
With the help of the above advantages, Senegal after independence embarked on a more "money" development path than the Gambia. Of course, the advantage here is only equivalent to that of the Gambia, and Senegal's overall economic development level is actually not high. No way, Senegal, as an African country that has suffered from colonial plunder for a long time, is still relatively weak in terms of foundation. Even if you catch up, it is difficult to achieve much in a short period of time. After all, Senegal is not a local tyrant like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and with God rewarding food, everything has to start slowly from scratch.
Therefore, although Senegal is more developed than the Gambia, the national economy is still dominated by agriculture, the industrial base is weak, and the overall economic level is relatively backward. Taking GDP data as an example, Senegal's per capita GDP in 2021 was about $1,600, ranking relatively low overall, and it belongs to the ranks of low-income countries.
But Senegal is poor, and football is still playing well. Unlike the short-lived moment of our men's football team in the 02 World Cup, Senegal is still a powerhouse in world football. In this World Cup in Qatar, Senegal entered the game strongly as an African champion. The same are rookies who debuted in the 20-year World Cup, why is the gap in follow-up development so big?
Think about the fact that in the past, there would always be people who came out to defend it, saying that it was because our domestic football system was backward, unlike the sound training system in Europe. Although we have an advantage in the total population, the actual football population is far behind. Objectively speaking, football population is indeed a favorable factor for a country to develop football, but it should not be a reason to lose.
Let's take a look at Senegal, as a small African country with a per capita GDP of only $1,600 and a population of only about 17 million, can they have a more football population than us? But why can people play in the World Cup many times and go further and further on the road of football power, but we are at the peak of our debut, and then one session is not as good as one?
I think this should be worth thinking about!