Sadio Mane netted the winning spot-kick as Senegal beat Egypt 4-2 on penalties to clinch their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations, after the final ended goalless following extra time.<\/p>\n
The Liverpool forward had earlier seen a seventh-minute penalty saved by Pharaohs keeper Gabaski.<\/p>\n
Chelsea\u2019s Edouard Mendy denied Mohanad Lasheen to give Mane the chance to win it in Yaounde\u2019s Olembe Stadium.<\/p>\n
Gabaski had made three good saves from Senegal\u2019s Bamba Dieng in extra time.<\/p>\n
And in a match billed as a battle between Liverpool forwards Mane, of Senegal, and Egypt captain Mohamed Salah, it was the former who had the decisive word.<\/p>\n
After two previous final defeats, Senegal are Africa Cup of Nations winners at last, while Egypt missed out on a record-extending eighth continental crown that would also have been a first for Salah.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just shows that if you work hard, if you persevere, you will get what you want,\u201d Senegal coach Aliou Cisse said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very emotional because the people of Senegal have wanted this trophy for 60 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
All four of Egypt\u2019s knockout games at the tournament went the distance, and the North Africans had beaten Ivory Coast and hosts Cameroon on spot-kicks en route to the final.<\/p>\n
Gabaski had already saved four penalties at the tournament by the time the match went to a shootout, but on this occasion the 33-year-old ended on the losing side.<\/p>\n
Egypt were the first to err when centre-back Mohamed Abdelmonem saw his penalty hit the left-hand upright and bounce away \u2013 but Gabaski immediately denied Bouna Sarr.<\/p>\n
However, Lasheen saw his effort saved and Mane won it with an emphatic finish into the bottom left-hand corner.<\/p>\n
His Liverpool team-mate Salah did not even have the chance to take a penalty, with the Pharaohs captain set to go fifth for his side.<\/p>\n
Senegal\u2019s two Nations Cup final defeats came in 2002 and 2019.<\/p>\n
And while the Teranga Lions will celebrate finally winning the tournament, Egypt will soon have a chance for revenge, with the two sides meeting again next month in a two-legged play-off for a spot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sadio Mane netted the winning spot-kick as Senegal beat Egypt 4-2 on penalties to clinch their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations, after the final ended goalless following extra time. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n