VAR madness, penalty drama and a superb left foot free kick
Mahrez (7) sent Algeria’s dugout into a frenzy with superb late free kick.
PHOTO BY JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
All Sport. On a day when the sports world was treated to epic contests in England, with Wimbledon’s tennis final, the Cricket World Cup final and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, the African Cup stood out on its own
Let us take a breather. Sunday was the best of Afcon 2019 so far and at the end of the day produced arguably the best two sides to contest the final at the Cairo International Stadium this Friday.
The final pits Teranga Lions of Senegal and Desert Foxes of Algeria, Riyad Mahrez against Sadio Mane - two of the biggest African players to grace the summer tournament here.
Algeria are gunning for the second African title in 29 years while Senegal are looking for their first after 54 years of trying. The two met in the group stage where Algeria won 1-0.
The Algerians led here on Sunday through 40th min own-goal by defender William at roost-Ekong, who turned Mahrez’s cross into his own net. Nigeria equalised through a penalty after a long VAR referral by Gambian referee Bakary Gassama, who initially didn’t award the spot-kick.
Odion Ighalo stepped up to score his fourth goal of the tournament, to become the top scorer.
With extra-time looming, Mahrez with a stunning left foot free kick won it for the North Africans. It’s was no more than they deserved. The Algerian coach, Djamel Belmadi, was delighted but still doesn’t understand how VAR works. “I did not see the incident in the first place, could not comment on the interpretation of the rules. It was hard to take,” Belmadi, a former Southampton player, said.
His counterpart, Gernot Rohr of Nigeria, said that against South Africa the VAR was not in our favour, today it brought us back in the game but admitted his players relaxed and wanted extra-time. “Algerians were tired following the match against Ivory Coast. We shall learn from that,” said Rohr.
Penalty madness
Earlier, Senegal won the first semi-final with an own-goal in the 100th minute when Tunisia goalkeeper Mouez Hassen, in trying to punchVthe ball clear from a free kick, pushed it against his own defender Dylan Bronn and ended in the net.
Both teams were guilty of missing penalties within minutes of each before the extra time. Then Ethiopian referee Bamlak Tessema gave Tunisia another penalty late in extra time but on checking VAR TV screen he reversed his decision. Aliou Cisse, the Senegal coach, praised his counterpart Alain Giresse of Tunisia. Cisse succeeded Giresse, whom he credits for assembling half the current side.
