New Delhi, June 15 -- PHILADELPHIA - The match was already dying when Wilfried Singo picked the ball up on the right, drove at a tired defence and dragged a low cross across the face of goal. Amad Diallo, on the pitch for 34 minutes after being inexplicably left on the bench, did not need a second look. He sidefooted it past Hernan Galindez with the composure of a man who had been waiting for exactly this moment, because he had been - in the most literal sense - all night.

The final score was Ivory Coast 1, Ecuador 0, and the result moved the Elephants level with Germany at the top of Group E in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. But the number that mattered most to coach Emerse Fae was not the scoreline. It was 56 - the minute he finally sent Ama...