Champions Algeria, beat Senegal 1-0 to lift AFCON trophy yet again

Harry Awurumibe

A 2^nd minute shot by Algeria’s Baghdad Bounedjah which took a heavy deflection off Senegal’s Seydou Sane was all that Algeria needed to defeat Senegal by a lone goal to lift their second Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2019 inside Cairo International Stadium, Egypt.

The Senegalese fought back gallantly in both halves of the match but could not find the Algerian net as their star man, Sadio Mane was shackled, bullied and tackled to no end by the Algerian big defenders.

There was a moment in the second half when the struck the hand of Algerian defensive midfielder, Adel Guedioura in his own box. The referee first gave a penalty to Senegal but later changed his mind after Video Assistant Referees (VAR) his attention for review; he did and subsequently waved it off.

Even the 4 minutes added time after the regular 90 minutes completed was not enough for Coach Aliou Cisse and his Terenga Lions of Senegal to roar louder than the Desert Foxes of Algeria who ran away with 1-0 victory to lift the AFCON trophy.

At the end, FIFA president and his CAF counterpart, Gianni Infantino and Ahmad Ahmad alongside other dignitaries presented medals and handed over trophies to the winners on the night,

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Odion Jude Ighalo finished the competition as the Highest Goal scorerwith five goals beating Algeria’s Riyad Maharez, Sadio Mane and two others who scored 3 goals apiece.