Sadio Mane won the MVP of the Cup, not only for his performance on the field, in competition with Brahim until the last moment, but for what he did in the final: convincing his teammates that they should finish the game, despite the insistence of their coach, Pape Thiaw, who, lamentably and shamefully, withdrew his charges from the field because of the penalty, which, at that time, Brahim had not yet missed
At around 1.30am, Mane went to the mixed zone and spoke to all the journalists. This man is a star.He gave a lesson to the world of sport by saying this: “African football did not deserve an end like this. We are progressing a lot and everyone was watching us.That’s why I asked my teammates to go back on the pitch. I told them: we win like men; we lose like men. And then we were lucky and we could win in the end”.
His reflection was magical: “The referee can make mistakes, and it’s not fair to judge him. And most importantly, I did it for the people all over the world whowanted to see the game. The decision to go in was made by everyone in the end, but I insisted on going back on the field.”
Sadio, however, reiterated that this Cup will be his last, although in the summer he will play the 2026 World Cup: “I would love to continue, but this is my last Africa Cup of Nations”.
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