CHAN 2024: Senegal looking up despite coming up short on title defense
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Reading Time: 3min | Thu. 28.08.25. | 16:20
The Lions of Teranga saw an early lead cancelled out, before bowing out of the competition on post-match penalties
A visibly distraught Souleymane Diallo, amid the disappointment of his team missing out on a chance to defend their African Nations Championship (CHAN), was left ruminating on the strides the young team made over the couple of weeks, refusing to be drawn on claims of injustice witnessed in their elimination to two-time champions Morocco at the Mandela National Stadium in Kampala, Uganda.
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Senegal's bid to retain the title they won in 2022 went down in smoke after losing 5-3 on penalties to the Atlas Lions, who had themselves clawed back from a deficit to draw 1-1 in normal time.
Seyni Mbaye was the only man to miss from the spot, as his attempt, which was also Senegal's first in the nervy shootout, cannoned off the crossbar, handing 2018 and 2020 champions Morocco the upper hand, and later the memorable victory.
Arriving a few minutes after Player of the Match Youssef Belammari, Diallo wore a face of disappointment, but uttered only positivity from such a draining match that even saw him walk from the eye-view of the dugout at some point.
"My boys played a good match and proved their quality in a big semifinal," the rising coach figure in Senegal said post-game.
"There had to be a winner and a loser, and today we were the losers. My team, however, did their best and showed that we have many great players, and I would like to congratulate them for how they handled the match."
The watching public, in hindsight, thought the match result would have gone differently, had South African referee Jelly Alfred not reversed his decision to hand Marouane Louadni a straight sending off, following what many viewed as a last-man tackle on Vieux Cisse in the 53rd minute.
Diallo, in a firm response, said: "I do not want to comment on the referee. They are part of the competition, and so I have decided not to mention the referee of this match."
If at all there were any regrets on the match, then it would be how the Lions of Teranga handled the first half; they led early, before being pegged back.
"In the first half, we did not do very well," Diallo said. "We decided to attack them on the side, and we conceded. After that, it is normal for a team to fall back and readjust.
"We told the team at halftime to search for the ball correctly, and it continued till the penalties."
Diallo will now focus on saving his team’s blushes as they come up against Sudan in the third-place match on Friday, at the same venue his team narrowly bowed out of the competition.
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