Senegal stormed off the field to protest a penalty that was given to them before winning the tournament with a 1-0 extra-time win over Morocco. The match was marred by bizarre scenes in the final.
After Morocco’s star player Brahim Diaz wasted the chance to win it with a last-gasp penalty in normal time following a 14-minute delay, midfielder Pape Gueye scored the 94th-minute winner on Sunday.
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Senegal coach Pape Bouna Thiaw gave his players an ultimatum before convincing them to come back.
Five minutes into stoppage time, Senegal full-back El Hadji Malick Diouf had to pull Diaz to the ground before the penalty was awarded following a VAR check by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala.
Officials and players argued before the referee’s touchline screen, then again when Senegal left.
When the players returned to the field, Diaz mistook a chip made in the Panenka style and sailed tamely into Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy’s direction.
Although losing will only add to Morocco’s poor performance in the tournament, which they only previously won 50 years ago, Senegal’s actions will be seen as a major blight on an otherwise prosperous tournament.
The Senegalese team had initially been upset by the referee’s decision to forbid foul foul play when Abdoulaye Seck headed off the post at a corner with a nod in the rebound.
However, a galvanized Senegal would almost certainly come out on top in the fourth minute of extra time, which was exactly what the crowd of 66,526 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium expected.
Idrissa Gana Gueye, who had previously released his name, was found in Mane’s midfield possession.
The Villarreal midfielder beat goalkeeper Yassine Bounou with a superb strike into the top corner as the Moroccan captain held off the backtracking Achraf Hakimi as he advanced toward the box.
Diaz was promptly replaced, especially because the Moroccans were upset.
In the second half of extra time, Nayef Aguerd headed against the crossbar, which would have prevented a penalty shootout.
The hosts, who had been hoping to win the title for the first time in front of their own fans, did not, however, have the opportunity to end a 50-year wait to become African champions for the second time.
Senegal could have been more at ease if Cherif Ndiaye had not wasted a fantastic chance to put the game away at 2-0 late in the second period, but they held on.
After winning the trophy for the first time in their history against Egypt on penalties in Yaounde in 2022, they won it for the second time in their history. They have won the Cup of Nations twice in the previous three competitions.
They will hope to convince legendary player Mane to play in another AFCON after he declared that this would be his final appearance at the tournament and that they will now prepare to travel to the United States for the World Cup in June.
Any investigation into the Senegalese team’s behavior and any errors made by Moroccan organizers will be the focus of any inquiries into the scenes surrounding the game.
The incidents occurred at the conclusion of a tense final, which had been low on goalmouth action, which was surprising given Africa’s best teams’ defensive prowess, according to the FIFA rankings.
Morocco should have scored just before the hour mark when Ayoub El Kaabi headed wide from a Bilal El Khannouss cross, but Senegal’s Iliman Ndiaye was denied by Bounou when clean through with the best chance in the first half.
Senegal escaped the penalty award before Gueye became their hero, which was remarkably the Lions of Teranga’s first goal in the AFCON final despite failing to find the net in any of their three matches.
Morocco’s campaign came to an end in agony, and many of its supporters had already left the stadium by the time the final whistle on a cold, wet night in Rabat.
Gueye said, “We really wanted to win here.” We gave everything, even though it was a very difficult match. ”
Walid Regragui, the coach of Morocco, claimed that his country was “really disappointed” by the Moroccans.
In the end, football eventually catches up with you when you score a penalty in the last minute.
Source: Aljazeera
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