The day after Senegal’s coronation at the CAN, Sadio Mané returned to the incidents which marred the final against Morocco (1-0).
At the end of a final as exciting as it was incredible, Senegal won the African Cup of Nations 2025Sunday in Rabat, at the expense of Morocco (1-0, ap). A meeting marked by numerous incidents on and outside the green rectangle.
Before lifting the cup for the second time in their history, the Lions of Teranga almost lost everything. Following the penalty awarded to the Moroccans in added time, the Senegalese players left the field to protest against this arbitration decision at the request of their coach Pape Thiaw.
The only Senegalese player to remain on the pitch, Sadio Mané returned to this completely crazy sequence on the sidelines of the celebrations in Dakar on Monday. The former Red explained that he spoke with his compatriots El Hadji Diouf and Mamadou Niang, as well as Claude Le Roy, present at the edge of the pitch. And the latter reinforced his idea that his teammates needed to come out of the locker room to finish this final.
“I wasn’t convinced we had to leave the field”
« Following the incidents in the final, he (El Hadji Diouf) told me: “Sadio, go play”. Mamadou Niang told me the same thing. I thank them, as does Claude Le Roy. I felt I needed to take advice from experienced people. Because from the start, I wasn’t convinced that we had to leave the field », Confided Sadio Mané at the microphone of RTS.
« I trusted their advice. In the end, I didn’t hesitate. I put everything in the hands of God”concluded the man who was named player of the tournament. Well it took him since Brahim Diaz then missed his penalty, before Pape Gueye gave the Lions of Teranga victory in overtime.
