By Velile Mnyandu
A total of eight goals in the last three matches, is a sign that Senegal has peaked at the right time in this tournament and that’s the feeling that its stars Sadio Mane and Cheikhou Kouyate are having and want to carry to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) final at the Olembe stadium on Sunday.
Senegal reached their third AFCON final and second in a space of two years after beating Burkina Faso at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon on Wednesday night. And it was the execution of this victory, as they raced into a 2-0 lead with less than 20 minutes left on the clock and when the Stallions pulled one back through in the 82nd minute, Mane sealed the victory five minutes later.
After struggling in the group stages, scoring only one goal from a penalty against Zimbabwe late in the game, Aliou Cisse’s Teranga Lions have responded in the best possible way in the knockout stages, hitting the back of the net eight times during the 2-0 win over Cape Verde, 3-1 victory against Equatorial Guinea and last night’s clinical win.
Speaking to iDiski Times journalist Velile Mnyandu in the mixed zone after last night’s emphatic victory, Liverpool’s Mane who has now scored three goals and provided two assists and been hugely influential in this revival, said this shows the hunger they have for this maiden AFCON title.
“Yeah, I think at the beginning we didn’t fill a full complement of the players, some were struggling with the injuries and some had Covid-19 positive cases and others came late into camp,” Mane told iDiski Times.
“We knew that it won’t be easy from the beginning, but we had to stay calm and work hard until we get the whole group back and now you can see we have found our rhythm and we going for the ultimate prize, the big one!”
Crystal Palace’s Kouyate has also contributed to the eight goals scored, came from the bench in the quarterfinals and scored the second goal against Equatorial Guinea.
“For me like, it’s just the work we do every day and I’m so happy for the guys to score these goals. This is very good for us, we going to the final and we ‘ve got something big to achieve,” said Kouyate.
The final will take place at the Olembe stadium on Sunday at 21:00 (SA Time) with Senegal waiting for the winner between the hosts Cameroon and record seven time champions Egypt in tonight’s game.
