The hero of the Senegal national team, Sadio Mane, rediscovered memories of his nation’s acclamation with the African Nations Cup and Qatar World Cup qualification at the expense of Egypt.
“The two positions are similar, but they are different at the same time,” Mani said in an interview with the International Football Association’s official website about Egypt’s matchups in the World Cup qualifying match and the African Nations Cup final. “When I learned that we will face Egypt in the African Nations Cup final, I sent a few messages to my old colleague in Liverpool Mohamed Salah, there was little joke,” Mani said.
In that game, he continued, “everything were on the line, and it was much more important than any rivalry between us.”
He noted: “We are a people with a huge enthusiasm for football, but we have never won the African Nations Cup. For us, the Senegal team had to bring matters to its conclusion. We were prepared for that match already.
”
He went on: “It wasn’t surprising that we faced the Egyptian team again after winning the African Nations Cup; you should always be prepared, especially when qualifying for the biggest soccer tournament in the world is at stake. As the African Champions, all we had to do to secure our spot in the World Cup was to reserve our spot.
Mani said, “I was never as enthusiastic as I was at that moment when I applied to pay against the Egyptian goalkeeper… and the rest is history. ” in reference to the penalty kick that was awarded to the Senegal squad in the World Cup at the expense of his Egyptian opponent.
Mane: By defeating Egypt to go to the World Cup and winning the African nations tournament, we made history.
About Author
