(Football news) Senegal beat Egypt on penalties after it was goalless after extra time and they lifted the African Cup of Nations trophy for the first time in their history. Player of the Tournament Sadio Mane was the hero of the hour as he overcame a fourth-minute penalty miss to net the decisive spot kick in the shootout following a 0-0 draw in which the West Africans had had the better of the chances. In victory, the Teranga Lions became the 15th different side to conquer the continent, finally drawing a line under 20 years of regret since the nation's finest side, the team that reached the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal and fell just short against Cameroon in the AFCON final earlier that year.

In the tournament, Senegal’s Edouard Mendy won the best keeper award as he conceded only two goals during this campaign and blocked a penalty in the shootout. Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar won the Golden Boot award after scoring a tally of 8 goals as he helped Cameroon secure third place in the tournament after coming back from a two goal deficit to win the match in penalties. The tournament hosts put together an amazing recovery in the final 20 minutes at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium to force a draw and go on and win the third-place game 5-3 in the penalty shootout.

The drama unfolded immediately when Egypt centre-back Mohamed Abdelmonem conceded a penalty just four minutes into the match. Goalkeeper Mohamed Abougabal would make amends for his defender's error as he saved Mane's penalty to keep the game scoreless. It remained goalless throughout the 90 minutes as Abougabal made five saves in normal time, with Mendy adding two of his own, the match was evidently heading into extra time at 0-0. After no side could find a breakthrough in the additional half hour, the match went into a penalty shootout. Abdelmonem stepped up for the second penalty, the 23-year-old Al Ahly player struck the woodwork, handing the advantage to Senegal but Abougabal would again come to his team's rescue, saving Bouna Sarr's effort in the third round, after which Marwan Hamdy's conversion put the sides on equal footing once more but eventually Lasheen’s miss meant that Sadio Mane put his miss behind him and scored the decisive penalty.

After the match, Senegal head coach Aliou Cisse said "We're African champions. It's been long, it's been hard, and there have been complicated moments, but we never gave up. This was a hard match too; we missed the penalty, and there were other chances we weren't able to take, but the boys never abandoned the task. This proves the mental strength of this generation."

Egypt assistant coach Diyaa El-Sayed, standing in for suspended Carlos Queiroz, said "It was a long match, and our boys are very tired. It's the fourth we've played for 120 minutes, and I want to thank the guys for their performance. I also want to congratulate Senegal for winning the cup. We want to apologise to the Egyptian population, but our boys played well, they put in a lot of effort. This is football."

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