The last penalty in the shoot-out against Egypt on Monday night at Olembe Stadium in Cameroon might have felt like a deja vu to the Senegalese fans. The captain gingerly walked towards the spot, just as their now coach Aliou Cisse had walked to take the final penalty of the African Cup of Nations final on the fateful night of 2002.
Sadio Mane, who had already missed a penalty early in the match was looking visibly nervous. His fellow English Premier League goalkeeper Edouard Mendy’s save against Mohanad Lasheen meant Senegal are just one kick away from creating history.
Cisse from the dugout must have been praying for a different outcome this time around. Mane takes the shot, and scores. Adou Gabal’s (which team he represents) stop off Mane from the penalty spot on seven minutes does not matter anymore.
Senegal are the new African Cup Of Nations champions – their maiden win in history. Cisse, who is a very criticized coach, to say the least, has given Senegal the trophy that was promised 20 years back. “Champion of Africa,” Cissé said. “It’s been long. It’s been difficult. Sometimes complicated. But we never gave up.”
Senegal had started the match with a lot more determination on attack than Egypt. The Mohamed Salah-led Egypt took almost 60 minutes to find a footing in the match. Senegal had the majority of possession while Egypt looked good on some occasional counter-attacks.
However, the scoreline remained 0-0 till the end of ninety minutes, which forced an extra 30 minutes of play. But again, no result. Liverpool stars, Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane both had a quiet night throughout the 90 minutes.
However, it was the defense of both teams that showed their worth. Kalidou Koulibali was instrumental in the Senegal defense. He didn’t let the Liverpool talisman wreak any havoc in the Senegalese defense.
“We are proud,” said Mendy. “We never won before. We worked really hard to win this trophy and today we won as a group, as a country.” “The AFCON is the best trophy I would ever win in my life,” Mane said.
The 33rd edition of AFCON was held between a mountain of controversies. From Cameroon, who is in the middle of a ‘civil war’, being the host of this tournament to the deadly stadium crash during a match that caused at least 38 casualties. The tournament finally ended with a win for a team who were long overdue to win this trophy.
