Senegal won an incident-packed Africa Cup of Nations final and Gary Lineker was in attendance as there was trouble on and off the pitch.
Gary Lineker described the unsavoury scenes during the Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Morocco as “deeply violent”. The incident-packed showdown was decided by Papa Gueye’s extra-time winner after Brahim Diaz missed a penalty to win the tournament with the last kick of normal time.
The Real Madrid forward, and top goalscorer for the 2025 tournament held in Morocco, opted to put his name in lights with a Panenka penalty only to see Edouard Mendy guess correctly to deny the hosts deep into stoppage-time. The decision to award Morocco a penalty sparked anger from the Senegal contingent as Pape Thiaw instructed his players off the pitch while disgruntled supporters had to be held back from invading the pitch.
Footage from the stands shows a horde of security officers and police together in an attempt to deny supporters from entering the pitch. Lineker filmed a video from the Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah in Rabat after witnessing the troubles.
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He said: “Not quite sure what I’ve just seen. I mean for a start I don’t know why VAR got involved, it’s a stupid thing to do.
“Then it all kicked off, they didn’t look like they were going to play, they went into the tunnel, then they came back out eventually because of Sadio Mane – who was doing the right thing, the right thing.
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“(It’s) kicking off in the crowd, the Senegalese fans are obviously deeply upset but it got very horribly violent. Well, he tried a Panenka and I’ve got a bit of history myself but in those circumstances, standing around doing nothing for the 15, 20 minutes, crazy.”
Pape Gueye scored the winner in extra-time to break the Moroccan hearts. Brahim Diaz was pictured in tears on the bench after he was brought off four minutes after the opener as he had to be consoled by his teammates after missing the spot-kick.
The 26-year-old was emotional as he collected his runners-up medal and golden boot for the tournament with jeers from those remaining in the stadium after scooping the awards. Senegal picked up their second triumph in the competition after beating Sudan, Mali and Egypt on course to the final in Rabat.
Sadio Mane lifted the famous trophy, wearing the captain’s armband, in what could have been his final match for Senegal. The Liverpool icon ended their years of hurt in 2021, scoring the winning penalty against Egypt in Cameroon and helped them on course to their win with crucial contributions throughout the competition.
And he did little to pour cold water on the possibility of ending his international career on a high. He said: “We know how to play the final.
“A final is meant to be won. I will be very happy to play my last Afcon final, to enjoy it and to make my country win.”
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