UNITED STATES -- Senegal's Idrissa Gueye didn't wear the look of a man devastated by a FIFA World Cup elimination when interviewed in the mixed zone after Belgium's shock comeback win on Wednesday.
He seemed relaxed and calm as he spoke to journalists after the match. Perhaps it was shock, perhaps it was relief that the Teranga Lions' maelstrom of a World Cup was over, but either way, his words betrayed a deeper discontent in the state of affairs for the national side.
"Unfortunately that's how things went, it was our destiny. It's hard for us to explain or understand the situation," he shared. "We just want to go to the hotel, get our belongings, and go home."
It's been an astonishing World Cup, bringing to a close an unthinkable six months for the Teranga Lions, in which they won the Africa Cup of Nations in such controversial circumstances, then had the title stripped from them, but nonetheless arrived in North America carrying the confidence of continental champions.
But first, the positives...
Their tournament wasn't an undiluted disaster, though. They kept an impressive France side at bay until the 66th minute, and should have taken the lead through decent first-half chances from Nicolas Jackson and Ismaïla Sarr, before the game unravelled during the latter stages.
They lost narrowly 3-2 to Norway, showing fantastic attacking menace through Sarr, and would feasibly have won the game had it not been for some astonishing lapses from Kalidou Koulibaly, looking half-fit and half-baked for his two outings.
Then was that magnificent 5-0 smashing of Iraq. It was helped, of course, by a 13th-minute red card to Rebin Sulaka, but Senegal's second-half display was intense, clinical and fearsome as they became both the first African team to score five in a World Cup game, and the first side in the tournament's history to advance to the knockouts despite losing their opening two matches.
Senegal suddenly had momentum, they'd flexed their attacking muscles -- only three sides had scored more during the group stage -- and were tipped by many to see off an unconvincing Belgium side in the Last 32.
Their tournament truly began here.
But then came Belgium
Against this backdrop, there was little surprise when Senegal took the lead through Habib Diarra in the 25th minute, before doubling their advantage six minutes into the second half through Sarr, quietly gilding his own reputation within the African game with an excellent tournament.
The Teranga Lions appeared to be advancing, largely unopposed, largely untroubled, largely unruffled towards the Last 16 in a manner that was worthy of the African champions they claimed to be.
But then coach Pape Thiaw intervened, with second-half game management that served to take the game away from imperious Senegal, and into the hands of a previously listless Belgium.
While Rudi Garcia sacrificed Jérémy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne to try and revive his side, also introducing Diego Moreira just after the hour mark to add a little bite to midfield, Thiaw's changes had the opposite effect.
In the 66th minute, he removed Pape Gueye (who has since quit the team until the current technical staff is replaced) -- such a big-game player, and magnificent, with two goals, against Iraq -- and replaced him with youngster Lamine Camara.
The 22-year-old was booked literally a minute after his arrival, and was a timorous presence thereafter, before eventually conceding the decisive penalty from which Youri Tielemans scored the winner in the 124th minute.
Despite entering only in the 65th minute, Camara lost possession due to poor control more than any of his teammates.
Similarly, in the 73rd minute, Diarra was replaced by Pape Matar Sarr. Again, it weakened Senegal's midfield, with the player who had been leading the press, playing a key role in disrupting Belgium, removed.
Diarra hadn't picked up a booking, he didn't look fatigued. Senegal further ceded the initiative.
Iliman Ndiaye, added to the starting lineup after fine cameos to that point, was removed for Ibrahim Mbaye, while Sadio Mané was replaced in the 94th minute.
Mane, of course is about so much more than just his on-the-ball contribution; he's Senegal's talisman, their on-field leader, their greatest ever player.
Without him and Nidaye, who had registered five of Senegal's nine completed dribbles between them, Senegal were denied their chief attacking outputs.
So who's to blame? Thiaw? The players?
"We almost made it, we have to stop making excuses," rightback Krépin Diatta said after the match. "We weren't supposed to lose that match at that moment. The team lacked character.
"When you're leading 2-0 in the 84th minute you have got to be the boss in your defence, even if it means putting your head in there. We failed. There's no excuse. The people deserve better."
Perhaps Thiaw was complacent, perhaps it was hubris, arrogance, saving his best players for the challenges to come, but momentum, rhythm and, ultimately, advantage were lost. Gana Gueye refused to blame the coach for his substitutions.
"I think it's easy to point fingers at the substitutions," he added. "If we'd won, no one would have spoken of it, but when there's a defeat we always look for errors.
"I was a bit tired. I asked the coach [to take me off] I wasn't able to go forward anymore."
It's not the first Thiaw decision that has hurt Senegal during this World Cup.
Koulibaly hadn't played competitively since early April before the tournament after sustaining a freak injury in training with Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, but despite only six minutes in a friendly with Saudi Arabia under his belt, he was thrust into the action against France.
He looked sluggish, with his lapses, up against Kylian Mbappé, unsettling those around him. Against Norway and Erling Haaland, it was worse, with the 35-year-old contributing directly to each of the Europeans' three goals.
Maybe it was just rustiness from not playing, maybe he isn't fully recovered, maybe -- as we saw at the Africa Cup of Nations -- Koulibaly just isn't the player he once was, and his time as a starting player in this squad should be behind him.
The defence, at least until their late capitulation, were far stronger without Koulibaly, even despite losing goalkeeper Édouard Mendy to ligament injury sustained during the Norway game.
How did off-field drama affect Senegal?
There's been much talk of what Senegal and Thiaw have experienced behind the scenes during this World Cup - the contract impasse and other issues that have impacted the team, which the head coach and Koulibaly have talked about openly.
There must also surely be a full inquisition regarding other reports concerning the delegation's behaviour during the competition.
Either way, Thiaw looked a shadow of the leader who defied Morocco and took Senegal to the Nations Cup in North Africa earlier this year.
In January, he was confident, cocky, smug even, chest out, wry smile. During the World Cup, he's appeared nervous, mumbling, drained, despite his claims not to have been impacted by the off-field issues.
Against Belgium, dressed all in white, as the tide of the contest turned against his team, he appeared powerless, a manager transformed from the proud figure who paraded the Nations Cup trophy at the Stade de France in March.
There appears distance between him and the players as well, which didn't exist before, whether it's Pape Gueye appearing to blank his manager as he was subbed off, or the same player promptly announcing his international retirement while the current technical team remain in post, it's clear the emotional energy within the camp has degraded over the last six months.
If Senegal are to become the champions Africa deserve, it's clear an overhaul is needed. Beyond Koulibaly, there are Sadio Mane, Mendy and Gueye who are 34, 34 and 36 respectively.
The Teranga Lions need to settle on an approach that gets the best out of Ndiaye consistently, while allowing the younger faces to establish themselves within international football.
"Do you want to see the experienced players leave?" Gana Gueye asked, defensively, when questioned about the future of the team's seniors. "I don't understand these questions, since the beginning of the tournament.
"It's the same in all teams, club or international, around the world, the experienced players are there to receive the messages from the coach and pass them around the group," he concluded.
"They only do what they are supposed to do. We don't do anything differently from the other teams."
Senegal also need to decide how to address a PR situation which is becoming increasingly unfavourable; the AFCON final walk-off, while applauded in many corners of the continent, was unsporting, as was Pathé Ciss's pathetic crouching over the penalty spot - feigning injury - as Tielemans prepared to take the late, late spotkick.
There are ways of winning, and there are ways of losing. Senegal, it seems, haven't yet mastered either.