Salif Sané loses the Africa Cup of Nations final with Senegal

Senegal suffered an extremely early setback in the final in Cairo, going behind after just three minutes. Algeria’s Baghdad Bounedjah took a shot from long range, which was deflected by Sané and then flew over goalkeeper Alfred Gomes in the Senegal goal.

Senegal on the offensive

Sané and his teammates looked to get over their initial disappointment and quickly went on the offensive to try and equalise. Algeria were happy enough to sit back and defend, which they did excellently, only allowing Senegal shots from distance.

Aliou Cissé’s side continued to up the ante in the second half and were awarded a penalty after a handball by Algeria’s Adlène Guedioura in the 60th minute. They never got it take it, however, as the referee took his decision back after intervention from VAR. The West Africans continued to try and find that allusive goal but couldn’t take any of their chances. Schalke’s centre-half half the final one, however his free-kick in injury time was blocked.

Second defeat in the final for Senegal

Algeria celebrated their second Africa Cup of Nations triumph, having won their other title back in 1990. Senegal lost their second final after losing once before in 2002. Sané appeared four times in Egypt during the tournament.