Sadio Mané dispatched Egypt with a kick from outside the area (1-0) and, in the process, this Wednesday consolidated his status as the great African player of the decade against the sad Mo Salah. Thanks to Mané, Senegal returns to the final of the Africa Cup five years later. Next Sunday in Rabat they will try to repeat the 2021 triumph. Their opponent will be Morocco. The host team returned to the CAN final after losing it in 2004. This time they had to beat Nigeria. He achieved it on penalties, after 120 minutes of tactical interplay (0-0) that led several players to cramp.
0
(2)
Stanley Nwabali, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Semi Ajayi, Calvin Bassey, Bruno Onnyechi, Frank Onyeka (Samuel Chukwuezeezeeze, 120), Raphael Onodika (Moses Simon, his mother. 82) Adema Look, Victor Osunhen (Plaul Onuchu, 17). y Dr. Adams (Figure Dele-Bashiru, his mother. 97)
0
(4)
Yassine Bounou, Nayef Aguerd, Achraf Hakmi, Adamoui Masina, Ismael Saibari (Eliesse Ben Segɣir, min. 117), 102), Bilal El Khannouss (Islamic Kingdom, min. 83) s 83)
Penalties:
1-0. Paul Onuachu. Chukwueze False. 1-1. Nestyri. 1-2. Hakimi’s Ash. 1-3. Ben Seghir Ben Seghir. Fall Hamza Igamane. 1-4. Neil Aynaoui. 2-4. Fiseyo Dele-Bashiru. Bruno Bruno Onyemaechi.
Referee Daniel Lari What About Nii What
yellow cards
Calvin Ughelumba (min. 32), Raphael Onyedika Nwadike (min. 76)
Brahim Díaz made it 1-0 in the first minutes with a shot to the far post that went just a finger wide of the top corner. The surprise effect did not last. They were waiting for him. The man from Malaga came into the game with the halo of a great figure in the championship after scoring five goals in five successive games and the Nigerians dedicated an unrepentant marking to him. Onieka, Bruno and Calvin Bassey formed an obstacle course for the winger, which was much more intermittent than in previous matches. Morocco played better than Nigeria, completely disconnected from its scorer, the great Osimhen. But Morocco did not manage to create more than a couple of clear situations. The match, conditioned by environmental tension, was not decided by the heroic intervention of anyone other than Yassine Bonou, author of a key save against Bruno in the penalty shootout. If the semifinals produced a decisive player it was Mané.
Mané’s game in Tangier was a tribute to the old days and a bitter reminder to Liverpool’s management. Liverpool began their decline the day they opted for Mo Salah to the detriment of Mané. The top of the salary scale and strategic prerogatives went to the Egyptian. But Mané continued to be the fundamental player. The Senegalese, who left the club in 2022, demonstrated it again in the semifinal in Tangier. Another duel against Mané’s Egypt. Like the 2022 final, Mané won it again from start to finish. The winger, who now plays in the Saudi league, demonstrated formidable physical condition, acted as the driver and support point of all the attacks, and scored the only goal that made the score 1-0, when he grabbed a rebound in front of the area and from 25 meters sent it hitting the post with a sharp and soulful shot from his instep.
At 33 years old, Mané can boast of having the same impact as always on his team’s game. The African Ballon d’Or of 2019 and 2022 is still valid. On the other side Salah, who preceded him with the Ballon d’Or in 2017 and 2018, went unnoticed. Tied up by Diouff, the Egypt captain did not abandon the melancholy that has followed him since the season began in Liverpool. Theirs was the general tone of a game preceded by the fear of error. The Egyptians, trapped in their field; the Senegalese, stiffened by the fear of their coach, Pape Thiaw, of revealing themselves to the counterattacks of Marmoush and Salah. He contained them with four immovable players throughout a day in which the happiest man on the field was the Gabonese referee Pierre Atcho, decidedly happy to enjoy the most important day of his professional life.
