The Teranga Lions of Senegal will square up against the Desert Foxes of Algeria in the 32nd editions of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final on Friday at Cairo International Stadium, Egypt.
Senegal will be making their second appearance in the AFCON final and they have never won the continental tournament and head coach Aliou Cisse, who is a former Senegal captain, will look to his key players Idrissa Gana Gueye and Sadio Mane.
Mahrez curled in an injury-time free-kick to send Algeria through to the Africa Cup of Nations final with a 2-1 victory over Nigeria on Sunday.
The Desert Foxes will make their third appearance in the AFCON final having won the title once in 1990 and coach Djamel Belmadi, who is also former midfielder, will be banking on his dangermen Adam Ounas and Riyad Mahrez to deliver the trophy
This will be the 20th meeting between Senegal and Algeria.The Desert Foxes have recorded 10 wins compared to Lions of Teranga’s four victories, while five matches ended in a draw.
The encounter will also be a battle of supremacy as two Premier League players Sadio Mane(Liverpool and Senegal) and Riyad Mahrez(Leicester City and Algeria) will battle it out and the winner stands a chance to win the African Player of the year award.
The Premier League stars have helped fire their teams into Friday’s showpiece match in Cairo adding to the successful seasons with their respective clubs.
Mane won the Uefa Champions League with Liverpool, while Algeria captain, Mahrez was part of a Manchester City side who completed the first domestic treble in England.
The two have been evenly matched throughout the competition too. Both have scored three goals – two behind Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo – with Mahrez’s last-gasp free-kick booking Algeria’s place in the final while Mane scored the winning goal against Uganda in the last 16.
Senegal are in the final after a bizarre own goal in extra time sent the Lions through with a 1-0 win against Tunisia at the 30 June Stadium in the Egyptian capital.
A mistake by goalkeeper Mouez Hassen in the 100th minute saw the ball bounce off the head of defender Dylan Bronn and trickle into the net.
Hassen came racing towards the penalty spot to try to cut out a cross from the right flank but completely missed the ball, which then hit the unfortunate Bronn.
Friday’s final will be the second time the two sides have met in the competition this year, having been drawn together in Group C. Algeria won the group match 1-0 – which sealed their spot in the last 16 – thanks to a 49th-minute Youcef Belaili goal. It is the only goal Senegal have conceded in the tournament and the result saw them finish second in the group behind their final opponents.
Senegal will be without key centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly for the final. The Napoli defender picked up a second yellow card in three matches during the semi-final and he will now serve a suspension.
Senegal manager Aliou Cisse is hoping his current team can go one better than the 2002 contingent and win the competition.
“There is a pride at getting to the final. It had been 17 years since we got this far, since my generation in 2002,” Cisse said.
“Our philosophy is to take a game at a time and try to play the best football to erase the disappointment of 2002. It’s a dream to win the title not only for me, but for all the Senegalese people. We are close to realising this dream that we could not achieve in 2002.”
It will be Algeria’s first appearance in the final since 1990, when they beat Nigeria on home soil to lift the trophy – the only time they have done so.
Anthony Nlebem
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