Senegal star Sadio Mane has credited tactical superiority for his outfit semi-final victory over Egypt at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Taranga Lions narrowly defeated the Pharaohs in a high-stake semi-final on Wednesday, setting up a fierce final clash against Morocco, who also triumphed over Nigeria on penalties.
It was Sadio Mane who emerged as the hero for Senegal after scoring the only goal of the match to propel his outfit to the final of the tournament.
Speaking after the match, Mane eulogized the Egyptian national team, while crediting tactical superiority for their victory.
“I just want to say that this is part of the goal, and that you have to get up and keep fighting for your dream. Because, you know, I can’t stay here talking about Egypt, because I’ll be up all night. But all respect to this team and I wish them the best of luck.”
“I think today was not an easy match, but we respected that. As I said, we didn’t press too much, and we know that any mistake will be punished. So we tried from the beginning to the end to stay compact, to press as soon as we lost the ball, to put them under a lot of pressure, and not to lose the ball easily. Because they have one of the best players in the world, Marmosh, so don’t give them that opportunity to punish you. And we succeeded in doing that very well.”
“And I think we certainly created many opportunities, but today we scored the only goal, and I think we deserved to win. Thank you very much.”
“We know that the Africa Cup of Nations is not easy, and unfortunately it is the most complicated tournament in the world, and all the teams are ready, and it will not be easy at all.”
Senegal has now qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations final for the fourth time in its history, after qualifying for the 2002 final before losing to Cameroon on penalties, and the 2019 final before losing to Algeria 1-0, while the only title came in 2021 with a victory over Egypt on penalties.
Morocco and Senegal have won the continental showpiece just once in their football history and will be seeking for their second triumph in the high-stake final.
