Sadio Mane was the hero for Senegal in a moment of redemption following their first continental title 4-2 victory over Egypt at the Olembé stadium in Yaoundé Cameroon on Sunday – he noted he was only thinking about head coach Aliou Cisse.

Senegal hero Sadio Mane has dedicated the side’s Africa Cup of Nations triumph to Aliou Cisse, who he labelled “the most criticized head coach I’ve ever seen in my life”.

The Liverpool forward went from zero to hero when he netted the decisive spot-kick as Senegal defeated Egypt 4-2 in a shootout following a 0-0 draw in Sunday’s final, where Mane missed a seventh-minute penalty.

Mane’s penalty not only clinched Senegal’s first-ever continental crown, but it was a personal moment of redemption, having missed a decisive spot-kick in the 2017 quarter-finals against Cameroon.

But the 29-year-old singled out head coach Cisse, who has 35 caps for Senegal before taking over as head coach in 2015, to dedicate the triumph.

“I know that the Senegalese people have suffered a lot, but I dedicate this trophy to Aliou Cisse,” Mane told reporters, having noted the criticism of the Lions of Teranga boss in the lead-up to the game. “If you knew what he did for the team.”

Mane added: “When I missed the penalty, first I thought of Aliou Cisse. When I scored the last penalty, I immediately thought of Aliou Cisse.”

Cisse, who was a runner-up at AFCON in 2002 during his playing days, praised the current generation headlined by Mane and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy who saved Mohanad Lasheen’s spot-kick to set up his teammate’s moment of glory.

“It proves the mental strength of this generation,” Cisse said. “We’re African champions.

“It’s been long, it’s been hard, and there have been complicated moments, but we never gave up.

“This was a hard match too; we missed the penalty, and there were other chances we weren’t able to take, but the boys never abandoned the task.

“We are very happy to dedicate the victory to the Senegalese people because from independence until now we have been chasing this first win in this competition.”

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It was an epic contest at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé as the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon rallied from 3 goals down to 3-3 and eventually beat Burkina Faso 5-3 on penalties on Saturday.

As a result, the host nation came third at the ongoing TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021.

Both sides showed character as the Stallions of Burkina Faso raced into a three-goal lead with goals from Steeve Yago and Djibril Ouattara and Andre Onana own goal with 20 minutes remaining.

Cameroon rallied their way back into the game as Stephane Bahoken reduced the deficit (3-1). Tournament top scorer Vincent Aboubakar scored a brace in the 85 and 87 minutes, respectively, to force a shootout.

Experienced Ambroise Oyongo scored the decisive penalty to win it after Ibrahim Blati Toure his spot for Kamou Malo’s side.

The Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Egypt, with Liverpool stars Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah on opposite sides, will be staged on Sunday in Yaounde (1900 GMT).

This year’s Afcon between Senegal and Egypt is set to be played in Yaounde on Sunday kick off at 1900 GMT.

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Cameroon coach Antonio Conceiçao has acknowledged the sadness in the Cameroon camp after their defeat to Egypt ahead but was pleased and proud of his players.

Conceiçao’s side missed three penalty kicks during the shootout as the Pharaohs of Egypt book a place in the final on Thursday. 

However, Cameroon beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in the opener of the tournament at the Stade d’Olembé, Yaoundé, and both nations will lock horns again this Saturday for a place on the podium of the 33rd edition of TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021.

“The sadness is great, especially when we do not achieve our objectives,” Antonio Conceiçao told the media.

He noted, “The players have worked well, and I am proud of them. It is up to us to learn now and move forward. I give the best of myself to have the best results with this team. We wanted to write history, but it didn’t work out.”

Cameroon’s keeper André Onana toed the line of his coach, noting their disappointment as he urged for his side to regroup.

“Disappointment is indeed great, but that’s life. We have to regroup to win this third place this Saturday against Burkina Faso. We have to try to forget elimination in the semifinals and think about the future, especially this classification match and the World Cup qualifiers. We have confidence in ourselves, and we must recover quickly,”

Burkina Faso Coach Kamou Malo is focused on the job at hand as they look to end the tournament on a good footing. 

“We are indeed disappointed following our elimination in the semifinals, but we have to prepare ourselves properly to play this match for third place in the best conditions. We have to remobilize now. We are physically and mentally ready to play our game.”

Stars player Bertrand Traore (Captain, Burkina Faso)

“We are obviously down after our elimination, but we have to remobilize to get the bronze medal. At this level of the competition, we feel tired, but we will do everything to have a good match and end the tournament on a good note.”

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