Shown the door

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DAKAR, Senegal -- Senegal's football federation has fired coach Amara Traore after one of its worst African Cup of Nations campaigns, where it lost all its games to be the first team eliminated.

The federation said Traore was responsible for the surprise group-stage defeats to Zambia, Equatorial Guinea and Libya.

Senegal went to the African Cup as one of the title hopefuls, boosted by a strong forward line including Demba Ba, Papiss Demba Cisse and captain Mamadou Niang.

However, it lost 2-1 to Zambia on the opening day and then conceded late winners against lowly ranked co-host Equatorial Guinea and Libya.

It was unclear if Senegal had lined up a long-term replacement, with under-23 team coaches Karim Diouf and Aliou Cisse taking temporary charge.