Senegal won the Africa Cup – but at one point the final threatened to descend into chaos: coach Pape Thiaw led his team off the pitch in protest against a penalty. Journalists got into arguments in the press boxes.
Accompanied by heated debates and the threat of a game being abandoned, Senegal’s national football team won the Africa Cup of Nations for the second time. Four years after the triumph in Cameroon, the team led by superstar Sadio Mané won the final against hosts Morocco 1-0 (0-0, 0-0) after extra time. Pape Gueye scored the decisive goal in Rabat in the 94th minute with a remarkable shot from around 16 meters into the corner.
Brahim Díaz became a tragic figure on the Moroccan side, miserably missing a Panenka-style penalty in his last action before extra time. There had been intense discussions for almost 20 minutes before the Real Madrid attacker’s execution.
Senegal’s coach, Pape Thiaw, even led his team off the field at one point while the Moroccan fans cheered and whistled. Senegalese fans, in turn, tried to storm onto the pitch. Photos showed clashes with security forces. For a short time there was a threat of cancellation.
“We were all very, very speechless, stunned,” said former Bundesliga professional Michél Dinzey, a TV expert at Sportdigital, about the dramatic development after 90 minutes. Dinzey continued that he was incredibly sorry for Díaz, who was substituted in extra time and watched the rest of the action from the bench with deep sadness. He disappointed an entire country. But: “You don’t shoot a penalty like that.”
Controversial referee decisions lead to turmoil
The tumultuous scenes were triggered by a duel between Díaz and Senegal’s El Hadji Malick Diouf. After a slight hold in the penalty area, Díaz energetically called for a penalty. Amid great protest from the Senegalese, referee Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo from the Democratic Republic of Congo looked at the scene again on the TV screen – and pointed to the spot after the VAR decision.
Then the drama began: Senegal’s players and staff raged, coach Pape Thiaw ordered his players into the dressing room. They didn’t stay there long. Ex-Munich Mané was the first to ask his teammates to return to the pitch. When Díaz was finally allowed to take the ball, he decided to lob it into the middle of the goal. Goalkeeper Edouard Mendy stopped and effortlessly held onto the ball.
Tempers also ran high at times in the press box and journalists got into arguments with each other. The frustration among Mané & Co. was also great because shortly before the penalty scene the referee had denied them a goal from a corner because of a foul on Hakimi – also an extremely controversial decision.
In extra time, with good chances on both sides, the Senegalese looked a bit better physically and mentally. After Gueye’s dream goal, which hit the ball perfectly as it fell, the Senegalese defended passionately. The strong Bono prevented the score from making it 2-0 – at the end of a memorable final it didn’t matter. For the second time after 2022, Senegal was crowned champion of Africa.
AP/dpa/gub
