The footballers of Senegal are the winners of the 35th edition of the African Cup of Nations after beating the host Morocco 1-0 in the final in Rabat after extra time.
The final of the African Championship offered the right one drama and chaos. At one point, it seemed that the match would not even end.
It’s over unbelievable that everything happened in the stoppage time of the second half. It’s the first goal disallowed by Senegaland a few minutes later it was awarded and penalty kick for Morocco. Senegalese are dissatisfied with the referee’s decisions withdrew the team and the break lasted almost 20 minutes. In the end, reason prevailed.
Brahim Diaz had a penalty kick for the win in 24 minutes of stoppage time, he tried score a goal with a “panenka”but Edouard Mendy stayed in the middle of the field, making a save. The match went into extra time, and he scored the deciding goal Pope Gueye in the 94th minute.
Senegal won the second title, Egypt the record holder
With the victory against Morocco, Senegal won the title of African champion for the second time. They were the winners of the 2021 Nations Cup for the first time when they celebrated against Egypt after a better penalty shootout.
They played in the finals twice more in 2002, when they lost to Cameroon after a penalty shoot-out, and in 2019, when they were defeated by Algeria (0-1). interestingly, This was the fourth final for Senegal at the African Championshipsand they scored only one goal, tonight.
Egypt is the record holder with seven titles, Cameroon was the African champion five times, and Ghana four times.
It’s total 15 countries celebrated at the Cup of Nations.
As expected, it was a tight and hard final without too many chances. In the first half, the closest to the goal were the Senegalese in the 38th minute when Everton striker Iliman Ndiaye rushed towards the opponent’s goal, but his shot was brilliantly stopped by Yassine Bounou.
It’s Morocco the first big opportunity had in the 58th minute, Stuttgart’s midfielder Bilal El Khannouss worked brilliantly for Ayoub El Kaabi, but the Olympiakos forward shot wide of the goal from ten meters away. Five minutes later, El Kaabi had another chance, but his shot was blocked, and in the continuation of the action, Real Betis striker Abde Ezzalzouli shot over the goal.
Senegal in the second part he didn’t have too many chancesbut in the third minute of stoppage time he shook the net. After a corner kick, Abdoulaye Seck headed the post and Ismaila Sarr cleared the rebound. However, referee Jean-Jacques Ndala of DR Congo disallowed the goal for a questionable attacking foul.
Three minutes later it was again the judge was in the main role awarding a penalty for the hosts after El Hadji Malick Diouf pulled down Diaz following a corner kick. His decision was confirmed by VAR, which caused the anger and rage of the Senegalese.
The coach Pape Thiaw even pulled the players into the dressing room and it seemed that the game would not continue.
However, after twenty minutes, the Senegalese returned to the field. Interestingly, one of the few Senegalese players who did not want to leave the field and told his teammates to come back, was Sadio Mane.
It’s Diaz shot for the championship titletried to score a goal with a “panenka”, but Edouard Mendy stayed in the middle of the field, defending his shot, after which the match went into overtime.
Senegal took the lead in the 94th minute with a great shot by Papa Gueye. The Villarreal midfielder pulled the ball and then fired from the edge of the penalty area, hitting the crossbar. Morocco could have equalized two minutes later, but the tragic Diaz shot from the edge of the penalty area, but straight at Mendy.
In the 104th minute, the home team had another great opportunity. Ezzalzouli crossed and En-Nesyri headed wide. Morocco came closest to equalizing in the 108th minute when Nayef Aguerd hit the crossbar after a corner.
Senegal could have resolved everything in the 110th minute, but Cherif Ndiaye missed the impossible. The former striker of Gorica, who is now in Turkey’s Samsunspor, first shot from the edge of the penalty area, Bono saved, and Ndiaye missed an open goal for 2-0.
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In the last ten minutes, Morocco played with one less player, Igamane left the field due to an injury, and Moroccan coach Walid Regragui made all the changes.
Nigeria won third place for the eighth time
In the match for third place, which was played on Saturday, Nigeria defeated Egypt 4-2 in Casablanca with a better performance of the 11-year-old. There were no goals in the 90 minutes of the game, and in the shootout from the penalty spot, goalkeeper Nwabali became the hero of Nigeria, who saved the shots of Salah and Marmoush in the first two series.
Nigeria even won third place at the African Championship for the ninth time, it also has three titles and five second places.
Brahim Diaz the best scorer
Moroccan striker Brahim Diaz is the top scorer, the Real Madrid striker finished the tournament with five goals.
In the group, he was among the scorers in the matches against Comoros (2-0), Mali (1-1) and Zambia (3-0). In the round of 16, he scored a goal against Tanzania (1-0), and he also scored in the quarter-final against Cameroon (2-0).
(Hina | Photo: X)
