Senegal Win AFCON 2022: Champions of Africa!

Life, say the wise, is played in the small details. The gesture of Sadio Manerelative history of Senegalasking his teammates to return to the playing field when almost the entire team and staff were already heading to the locker room, enraged by the penalty awarded in favor of MoroccoIn the last minute of regular time, he finished giving the final blow to this great Senegal. It transformed him, renewed him and prevented him from resigning when everything seemed lost. At that moment the new champion of the Africa Cup was born.

A champion who, of course, has the credentials to be one. Or rather, to be one again: he had already lifted this same trophy in 2021, with the same calm of Mané as an emblem when taking the decisive penalty. And this time, in Morocco and completely as a visitor, Senegal once again prevailed, overcame adversity and reaffirmed its place at the top of the continent.

An adversity that he knew how to overcome, because his ability to prevail in the most critical moments of the final is sustained by the path he has traveled. To reach this decisive stage, Senegal was the leader of Group D without losing a game, beat Sudan 3-1 in the round of 16 in the end, beat Mali 1-0 in the quarterfinalsdefeated by the same score Egypt in the semi-final and, again 1-0, He won the gold medal in front of a stadium mostly wearing red shirts.

Still, Senegal stood up and did well. Very good. In the final, he created two clear goal situations in the first half that Bono ended up resolving safely and, in the second, he knew how to manage the development of the match until the penalty in the last minute. A controversial action, yes, but punishable: It is not easy to measure how much of the defender’s strength was when hooking from the shoulder and how much of the attacker’s was when he dropped, although the hand from behind exists and the pull is there. They are plays that are often not charged, but the referee’s decision was not incorrect.

Despite that blow, the team knew how to handle the moment. The moment of anger and confusion was crossed with the temperance of a Sadio Mané who trusted in the process and destiny. As in the decisive penalty in 2021, he seemed to know that something else was in store, an ace up his sleeve.

And so it was. In a closing that will remain in history, Brahim Díaz, Real Madrid player, tried to take the penalty with a calm that was as excessive as it was risky. Goalkeeper Mendy guessed the intention, kept the ball and took the game to overtime, definitively igniting the Senegalese enthusiasm.

It was written: in extra time, Pape Gueye nailed it into the corner from outside the area and, incredibly, ended up silencing the entire Moulay Abdallah. To the entire city of Rabat. To all of Morocco. Because in football, as in life, everything is often defined there: in not leaving beforehand, in holding on when the blow seems definitive and in executing what follows without dramatizing. Senegal did not leave. He stayed. And in that minimal detail another star ended up being embroidered.

Morocco was one of the favorites and overcame all the rounds with a great performance, especially as the host team:

✔️ Beat Comoros 2-0

✔️ Drawn with Mali 1-1

✔️ Beat Zambia 3-0

This allowed him to advance comfortably from his group.

Round of 16: Morocco defeated Tanzania 1-0.

Quarterfinals: beat Cameroon 2-0.

Semifinal: tied 0-0 with Nigeria, and won on penalties 4-2, with great saves by Yassine Bounou.

Senegal also reached the definition with solid matches, standing out in key phases:

✔️ Beat Botswana 3-0

✔️ Equaled with DR Congo 1-1

✔️ Beat Benin 3-0

This ensured their qualification to the final rounds.

Round of 16: Senegal defeated Sudan 3-1.

Quarterfinals: beat Mali 1-0.

Semifinal: they beat Egypt 1-0 with a goal from Sadio Mané, qualifying for the final.