Mané slams “shameful” scenes at Africa Cup of Nations final | OneFootball

Senegal defeated Morocco 1-0 in extra time and won the African Cup of Nations for the second time in its history last Sunday. However, the scene that drew the most attention was the Senegalese team leaving the field during stoppage time in the second half, after a controversial penalty was awarded to the Moroccans.

The players' exit was ordered by the team's coach, Pape Thiaw, in response to his team's strong dissatisfaction with a goal that had been disallowed minutes earlier and the penalty awarded to Morocco, which was yet to be taken.

The coach's decision, however, angered the main player and leader of the Senegalese national team, Sadio Mané, the only one who remained on the field and convinced his teammates to return and finish the match.

After the confusion, the game resumed and Brahim Díaz, Morocco's number 10 and a Real Madrid player, took the penalty with a chip shot straight into the hands of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who saved the goal and took the match into extra time. Still in the first half of extra time, Pape Gueye scored the goal that secured the title for Senegal.

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Repercussion

After the end of the match, when asked about the incident, Mané did not hide his discontent with his team's behavior.

“It would really be a shame and a sadness to see this kind of thing, this kind of situation, happen. Just imagine for a second, going into the locker room and the football match stopping right there. I think that would send a negative image of our football; I think Africa today does not deserve that,” he said.

“African football has evolved in an incredible way and the proof is that it is followed all over the world. So, for my part, I did what I had to do, and I think we were also a bit lucky to have a goalkeeper like Edouard Mendy, who saved us once again. Therefore, overall, I think Senegal deserved to win the match,” he concluded.

Also commenting on the matter, Morocco's coach, Walid Regragui, described the scene as “shameful” and criticized the opposing coach.

“A coach who asks his players to leave the field… what Pape did does not honor Africa. Thiaw had no class. But he is a champion, so he can say what he wants. We stopped the fight in front of the world for 10 minutes,” he commented.

Pape Thiaw, finally, showed regret for his actions and apologized to football.

“We acknowledge the referee's mistakes. We shouldn't have done that, but it's done now and we present our apologies to football,” he said.

The Confederation of African Football condemned the actions of the Senegalese team and promised to review the footage before forwarding it “to the competent authorities so that appropriate measures can be taken against those responsible.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.