Sadio Mané has done many great things for Senegal and for Senegalese football, but what he did on Sunday evening, in what he confirmed would be his last Africa Cup of Nations game, was perhaps greater than his winning goal in Wednesday’s semi-final, greater than his penalty to win the World Cup qualifying playoff against Egypt in 2022, greater even than his decisive penalty in the 2021 final.
When Senegal stormed off the pitch in protest at the award of a penalty against them eight minutes into added time at the end of the Cup of Nations final, African football faced a crisis. For this to happen at all was embarrassing, for it to happen in the final of the confederation’s showpiece would have been a humiliation – not least because many may have felt that Senegal had a point. Refereeing has been a topic of discussion in this tournament in a way it should never be.
Tanzania, Cameroon and Nigeria had complained in the previous knockout rounds that Morocco had received preferential treatment from referees and, here, critics of the hosts would have found vindication. In the 92nd minute, Senegal had a goal ruled out for innocuous contact between Abdoulaye Seck and Achraf Hakimi as they jumped for a header at the back post, the referee’s whistle blowing before Ismaïla Sarr had turned the ball over the line, meaning VAR could not intervene. Four minutes later, at the other end, VAR penalised El Hadji Malick Diouf for slight contact on Brahim Díaz as the two contested a corner.
Senegal already felt aggrieved. They had lodged an official protest about what they claimed were attempts by the local organising committee to undermine them. They protested about a lack of security at Rabat-Agdal train station when they arrived from Tangier, about the accommodation they were initially offered, about the provision of training facilities and about the lack of tickets available for Senegalese fans.
There were repeated attempts, by ballboys, Morocco subs and flagbearers to steal the goalkeeper Édouard Mendy’s towel, as had happened to Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabali in the semi-final. In the final, Senegal’s players, encouraged by their coach Pape Thiaw, walked off.
Mané, though, lingered by the touchline. He sought advice from Claude Le Roy, the 77-year-old Frenchman who has coached a string of African teams, including Senegal. The former Senegal, Bolton and Liverpool forward El Hadji Diouf was involved as well. Mané ran down the tunnel and persuaded his teammates to return.
“Not the best things can happen in football because football is something special and the world is watching,” he said in a breathless post-match interview. “The world loves football. I think football is just a pleasure so I think we just need to give a special, a great, great image of football.
“I think we would be crazy not to play this game because the referee gave a penalty and so we go out of the game. I think this was going to be the worst thing in, especially, African football, for me this cannot … I would rather lose than this kind of thing happen to our football. I think it’s really, really bad. Football should not ever stop to come back for 10 minutes, but what can I do? What can we do? I think we just have to accept … and deal with it. I thought good things would happen if we came back and played the game and that’s what happened.”
Díaz’s penalty was saved, but that wasn’t the end of Mané’s involvement. When the penalty had been awarded, Senegal fans at the other end of the ground had reacted furiously. Chairs were thrown, advertising hoardings fell down and there appeared to be an attempt to invade the pitch before riot police intervened. Before extra-time began, Mané approached those fans and appealed, successfully, for calm.
The 33-year-old has a profound sense of responsibility on and off pitch. He has built a hospital and a school in his home town of Bambali, providing free education and healthcare, while also funding electricity and wifi for the inhabitants. When the squad captain Kalidou Koulibaly, who was suspended, went up to collect the trophy, he insisted Mané join him. Without his leadership, there might not have been a final to win (and there will, still, surely be sanctions for Senegal).
Senegal have won two Cups of Nations and Mané has been integral to both. Nobody who isn’t Egyptian has won more Cups of Nations than him, and he joins Roger Milla and Ahmed Hassan in a very select club to have been named best player at a Cup of Nations twice.
But Sunday was about more than that; it was about understanding his responsibility to Senegal, to Africa and to football.
Trivia question
Manchester United defeated Manchester City 2-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday, further denting City’s efforts at challenging Arsenal for the Premier League title. Since the start of the 2015-16 Premier League season, the two sides have played each other 14 times in league and cup competitions at Old Trafford stadium. How many of those games have Manchester United won?
a) One
b) Four
c) Nine
d) 13
On this day …
These days, questions about amateur status always seem, at best, vaguely quaint and, at worst, stories of exploitation, but there was a time when they were taken very seriously indeed. The Football Association was founded in 1863 by former university men with a profound belief that it was somehow unseemly to be paid for playing sport, which was fine for the southern clubs made up of wealthy former public schoolboys. To the clubs from the northern industrial cities, though, whose players tended to be factory workers, miners and shipbuilders, it seemed wrong that when people paid to watch games, the players shouldn’t benefit.
Crisis point was reached on 19 January 1884 when Upton Park drew 1-1 at Preston in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Upton Park, proudly amateur, complained that Preston had been paying their players – which they didn’t deny, insisting compensation for work missed while training and playing was only fair. Preston were disqualified, but that provoked a backlash from the northern clubs and threats of a breakaway professional football association. Recognising the direction of travel, the FA relented, and on 20 July 1885 professionalism was legalised. Three years later, the Football League was founded to offer regular fixtures for professional clubs.
Elsewhere on the Guardian
Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Zohran Mamdani’s Afcon watch party brings African football to a New York landmark
Growing sense of embarrassment at Fifa over Donald Trump peace prize
US watch
It was a quiet weekend for most Americans abroad, with two notable exceptions in the English Championship. Haji Wright came on as a substitute and scored a late winner for Coventry City against Leicester City. Elsewhere, Patrick Agyemang got the only goal of the game as Derby County topped Preston 1-0 away from home.
Up in the Premier League, Chris Richards started and played the full 90 as Crystal Palace fell 2-1 to Sunderland, Meanwhile, Brenden Aaronson’s Leeds United beat Antonee Robinson’s Fulham 1-0, with Robinson going the distance and Aaronson substituted in stoppage time.
Elsewhere in Europe, Christian Pulisic played well for 76 minutes but couldn’t find a breakthrough for Milan against Lecce. His replacement, Niclas Füllkrug, did in a 1-0 win for the Rossoneri. In Germany, James Sands scored for St Pauli in a losing effort against Borussia Dortmund. Gio Reyna was once again limited to an appearance off the bench for Borussia Mönchengladbach, doing little of note in his 20 minutes.
What to watch
(All times US Eastern)
The Champions League returns from its winter slumber this week, with a number of enticing matches on offer. On Tuesday, the pick of the bunch is probably Internazionale v Arsenal, but keep your eye on Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid v Monaco (all at 3pm on Paramount+). On Wednesday, Tim Weah and Marseille host Liverpool, with Juventus’s clash against Benfica also worth keeping an eye on.
Reading list
The level of hate inside Tottenham’s gleaming home surprised even the visitors this past weekend. Jacob Steinberg writes that Thomas Frank’s time at Spurs is likely nearing its end.
Bayern Munich’s relentless 5-1 comeback win against Leipzig was ominous and made one wonder how many goals champions could score this season, writes Andy Brassell.
A frenetic Manchester derby was just the place for Michael Carrick to channel Sir Alex Ferguson, writes John Brewin.
Trivia answer
The answer is b) four times. United has only beaten their intra-city rivals three times at home in the last 10 league seasons, with one victory in cup competitions (the League Cup fourth round in 2016, in case you were wondering).
