Sadio Mane was the hero for Senegal once again yesterday, but not for the reasons you would expect, scoring the winning goal which Pape Gueyi in extra time.
The former Liverpool and Bayern Munich forward claimed his second Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) crown on Sunday, with the Teranga Lions beating host nation Morocco in a final filled with controversy.
In stoppage time, Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw tried to usher his team off the field after Morocco were awarded a penalty in the 98th minute when defender El Hadji Malick Diouf brought down Brahim Diaz.
With the Senegal players back in the changing rooms, Mane was pictured entering and then ushering them back out on to the pitch, with the help of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Roughly 16 minutes after the spot-kick was awarded, Diaz’s Panenka penalty was easily caught by Mendy in a nightmare moment for one of the stars of the tournament.
At 0-0 the game went to extra time. Pape Gueye rocketed in a winner and sealed a dramatic title.
Mane, who has said this will be his last Afcon, goes out as a leader – having been presented with the captain’s armband by his team-mates before the trophy was lifted.
He said: “Football is something special, the world was watching, the world loves football and I think football is a pleasure so we have to give a good image for football.
For Mane, it all started in Bambali.
It was in south-west Senegal that he began playing football on its red earth-lined streets and sandy pitches and where, aged 13, he watched Liverpool’s famous comeback against AC Milan in the Champions League final in 2005.
Since then he has gone on to lift both that prestigious trophy and the Premier League with the Reds, as well as claiming two Afcon titles with the Teranga Lions.
Mane scored the winning penalty against Egypt in the final of the 2021 edition and described it as “the best day of my life and the best trophy of my life”.
A stadium was named after him in the city of Sedhiou, just under 20km from his hometown, following that triumph as a recognition of his achievements.
Now a two-time champion and 33 years old, Mane has capped off his Afcon career on an ultimate high.
But Gueye says the squad aim to convince Mane, who he called “a legend of Senegal”, to change his mind about this being his final Afcon and remain with the team for at least the 2027 edition in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
”We’re going to try to keep him with us a bit longer, because he still has some great years to give,” the 26-year-old Villarreal man told BBC Afrique.
”I heard what he said and we’ll see what he decides to do. But we really want him to stay with us for many more years.”
