Sadio Mane was the hero for Senegal once again, but not for the reasons you would expect.
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.
“I think it would be crazy to not play this game because what, the referee gave a penalty and we go out of the game? I think that would be the worst thing especially in African football. I’d rather lose than this kind of thing happen to our football.
“I think it’s really bad. Football should not stop for even ten minutes but what can we do? We have to accept that we did but the good thing is that we came back and we played the game and what happened happened.”
Former Nigeria forward Daniel Amokachi told BBC World Service: “Mane went the extra mile to get his team back and it has paid off.
“What an ambassador for football he is. We know the kind of person he is off the pitch and he knows what football is all about.”
Former Morocco international Hassan Kachloul said “Africa football and world football were losing” until Mane intervened.
“What I like more than anything, the only player from the Senegalese team was Sadio Mane,” he told E4.
“That shows the great man he is. He went back to the dressing room and brought those players back. Mane was the man to bring them back on.”
