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Going into the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final, there was one certainty: of a team in green/white celebrating and another in same outfit mourning.
And so it proved — Algeria the victors, Senegal losers. When the two teams met for the first time at this Afcon in their second Group C game, it was obvious one or both would make it to the final three weeks later. Algeria narrowly won that battle to leave Senegal with some catching-up to do, but Aliou Cisse’s men managed it.
Both wrapped up their group phase campaign with emphatic 3-0 wins, before barging their way through successive knockout rounds. Eventually, it took a stroke of fortune — for Senegal — and of brilliance — for Algeria — to get either side past the penultimate hurdles, against Tunisia and Nigeria respectively.
Before the final, the losing semi-finalists contested the third-place playoff at Cairo’s Al Salam Stadium, with an Odion Ighalo goal in the opening three minutes settling the tie. Forty-eight hours later at the Cairo International Stadium, that script played out again, albeit with a tweak or two.
While Moez Ben Cherifia flapped at a low Jamilu Collins cross which bounced off Yassine Meriah into a lurking Ighalo’s path for Wednesday’s decisive strike, Friday saw Baghdad Bounedjah’s long-range effort deflect wickedly off Salif Sane and over a static Alfred Gomis.
During the next 90-odd minutes, Senegal probed for an equalizer and Algeria prowled for a clincher. In the end — despite a handful of chances, a VAR penalty review, hard tackles and heated emotions — neither squeezed anything more from the match, but Les Fennecs had done just enough to claim the spoils.
It wasn’t the most uplifting final, with Premier League duo Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez failing to set it alight. For all their hunger, it was a shame that Senegal only finished with silver, just as it was hardly flattering that Algeria had to swap gloss for grit in overcoming their concluding test.
Djamel Belmadi’s team had largely cruised to the final in style, and although they ultimately had to scramble over the finish line, the end certainly justifies the means. This conquest is the first being celebrated by an entire generation of Algerians, secured by a squad that had no player older than four years when the north Africans last won it: cue wild celebrations in Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Blida et al.
Senegalese won’t be so ecstatic, of course. A second Afcon final loss in 17 years will hurt, long and deep. Mane, in particular, looked distraught, watching as England-based rival Mahrez hoisted the Afcon diadem (a fifth trophy for the Manchester City star in 2018/19) and, possibly, the next African Player of the Year prize. But his wasn’t the only broken heart out there.
Head coach Cisse was left feeling as he had when, in 2002, Cameroon beat the Teranga Lions on penalties with maiden Afcon honours within touching distance. Yet even as he bravely led his playing and technical bodies in a pensive knee-taking exercise on the pitch post-match, it felt like Senegal were already psyching themselves for another go at the title. They are too good not to try again; hopefully, it wouldn’t take 17 more years. Senegal’s latest golden generation deserves something truly golden, doesn’t it?
Well, it is Algeria’s that has now delivered after years of flattering to deceive, and this success should last a good while. The Afcon’s best team (with the runner-up marginally behind) triumphed, and even if they did not exactly sign off prettily, there was no shortage of thrills in a month-long tournament that served all it promised — and then some.
Sammie Frimpong — Daily Mail GH
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