Fighting ballboys, walking off: Senegal are Afcon champions after weirdest final

THE MOROCCO HORROR PICTURE SHOW

There was a lot of childish behaviour on show at the Afcon final last night, some of it perpetrated by actual children. Despite not playing so much as a minute for Senegal during the tournament, their substitute Yehvann Diouf was arguably his side’s man of the match, so heroic was the lone stand he took near Édouard Mendy’s goal literally fighting off a succession of Moroccan ball boys and substitutes who repeatedly tried to steal the towel which his fellow goalkeeper was using to keep his gloves dry. Never mind the wet conditions, Mendy could have slathered his Uhlsport mitts with copious amounts of butter and still comfortably held the pitiful Panenka gently floated his way from the penalty spot with what should have been the winner and the final kick of the game by Morocco’s Brahim Díaz. While conspiracy theorists have suggested the tournament’s top scorer may have agreed to miss on purpose in the interests of sportsmanship, Mendy scoffed at the notion. “No of course not,” he said. “Let’s be serious.” Upon being presented with his golden boot by Gianni Infantino, Díaz looked a genuinely broken man and quite possibly told the Fifa president to just add his trophy to the burgeoning collection of shiny football memorabilia owned by his American bestie in the White House.

Almost certainly the best run tournament in Afcon history as far as infrastructure is concerned, this year’s iteration has been plagued by some breathtakingly bad officiating, which played no small part in the descent of last night’s final into total and utter chaos. Having had a goal chalked off in what seemed like extremely unfair circumstances, Senegal were so incensed when Jean-Jacques Ngambo awarded Morocco their Andrex-soft penalty in the eighth minute of added time that head coach Pape Thiaw led most of his players off the pitch in protest, prompting a 15-minute delay to give Díaz plenty of time to ponder the most preposterous circumstances imaginable in which to miss the most momentous kick of his life. While Senegal went on to win one of the weirdest finals in football history courtesy of a Papa Gueye rocket, they now face sanctions for their petulance in a state of affairs that is unlikely to bother them in the slightest.

“We strongly condemn the behaviour of some ‘supporters’ as well as some Senegalese players and technical staff members,” tut-tutted Gianni, before suggesting Senegal will be poorly represented on the shortlist for the next Fifa peace prize. “It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner, and equally, violence cannot be tolerated in our sport, it is simply not right.” The Confederation of African Football (Caf) also weighed in with a portentous statement, adding that an investigation would be held and anyone found guilty of shenanigans would feel the full force of an as yet unspecified “appropriate action”. The pride of the Teranga Lions, Sadio Mané will go unpunished, having been instrumental in summoning his teammates back out on to the pitch to ensure they did not forfeit last night’s final and reduce the occasion to total farce. “I think it would be crazy to not play this game because what, the referee gave a penalty and we go out of the game?” he parped with the benefit of the kind of 20-20 hindsight that will plague poor Díaz forever.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

I was originally an idealist: I wanted to deliver my kids a world without racism. But I now recognise this is a marathon. Racism has been here for hundreds of years and it might take another 100 years to dismantle but we’ll get there” – Shaka Hislop, former Newcastle goalkeeper, opens up on the abuse he received when he first moved to the north-east and his journey since as an anti-racist campaigner.

Poor, poor Brahim Diaz, who in the wake the worst moment of his professional life then had to accept a Golden Boot trophy from Gianni Infantino. Like he was some sort of slighted right winger getting a participation trophy. I’m sure Roy Keane could advise him on advising Infantino as to what he could do with his Golden Boot” – Justin Kavanagh.

There are many ways to achieve greatness in sport. A true pinnacle of greatness was clear when Sadio Mané single-handedly saved the 2026 Afcon final from an ignominious ending. Amid the ego and high dudgeon of the Senegalese wrong-headed manager, who called his players off the field, Mané was bigger than that. He understood that calls are often seen as unequal, and the game has hard knocks, but that the reputation of his team, of Afcon, and so much was bigger than the manager’s and some teammates’ fits of pique. He brought his teammates and the gaffer back, so that the match could play itself out. And what a last 30 minutes of ‘heavy metal football’ (yes, I’m a Kloppite). To my mind a fitting and just ending, from Gueye’s fabulous strike. Mané was a leader and a star at Anfield, his leadership in Morocco earns him a place in the pantheon of football’s greats” – Mark Quigley.

Further to my letter of consolation to Crystal Palace fans (last Tuesday’s Football Daily letters), and in the light of events from Friday … sorry, I’ve got nothing” – Gumley Slats.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our letter o’ the day is … Justin Kavanagh, who lands some hot Football Weekly merch. Terms and conditions for our competitions are here.

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Join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and the rest of the Football Weekly pod squad as they chew over the Afcon final chaos, the Manchester derby and stormy weekends for Tottenham and Crystal Palace. And you can watch the pod here if you prefer.

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