Izuchukwu Okosi
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Deputy African champions Senegal moved a step closer to reaching another Africa Cup of Nations final as they booked their place in the semi-final stage of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations 2021 with a 3-1 defeat of Equatorial Guinea.
Coach Aliou Cissé’s sides scored through Famara Diedhiou; Cheikhou Kouyaté and Ismaïla Sarr (both substitutes) while Jannick Buyla Sam scored a consolation for the Nzalang Nacional of Equatorial Guinea at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Leicester City midfielder Nampalys Mendy who was awarded the Man of The Match expressed elation being considered the most outstanding player by the technical study group.
“I am very proud to be part of the Senegal group for CAN TotalEnergies 2021. I am flattered to receive the man of the match trophy. We followed the coach’s instructions throughout the game.
Juan Micha, coach of Equatorial Guinea admitted that his team were up against a good side and gave a hint of the strong opposition his team will be in the future.
“We knew we were going to play against a very good Senegalese team. We gave our best during this match.
“I think the physical factor got the better of us. We congratulate the Senegalese selection for their performance today.
“Today. We have a young team, who have come to play the CAN TotalEnergies to go as far as possible in the competition. We have demonstrated what we are capable of. For the future, we will try to consolidate the achievements and participate regularly in competitions. international”.
Coach of the winning side and former national team captain Aliou Cissé also spoke to the media after the match and gave an honest assessment of how the game played out.
“We played a hard-fought game against a good Equatorial Guinean team. We had the mentality to score three goals. We must congratulate the opposing team who were technically capable of creating problems for us,” Cisse effused.
Senegal will play against Burkina Faso in the semifinals on Wednesday.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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