Senegal defeated hosts nation Algeria 5-4 on penalties to clinch the 2022 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) on Saturday.
The Local Teranga Lions came out on top in a nervy encounter in front a 39, 120 spectators at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers on a cold winter night.
The results has seen the West African nation complete the treble in a year following their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) success as well as the Beach Soccer AFCON.
Both sides started the game strongly in the opening minutes of the final that would see a new champion for the continental tournament that is organised for players that feature in their domestic leagues.
No goal was registered in regulation time as both coaches Madjid Bougherra and Pape Thiaw tried to tried in a failed attempt to find the breakthrough.
Both sides made attempts on goal in extra time but none could could find the back of the net game as the game eventually went into penalties.
Elhadji Mooutarou Balde of Teungueth stepped up first for Senegal and sent his attempt into the lower corner past Alexis Guendouz who guessed right but the power on the ball was too much for him.
Akram Djahnit hesitated before making his attempt and Sy was quick to save it through the middle to find the back of the net, but Sy was off his line. Djahnit made no mistake with his second attempt, sending it into the left corner to make it 1-1 for the hosts.
Senegal’s Moussa Ndiaye was on point through the middle past Guendouz to give the Teranga Lions a 2-1 lead before Draoui equalized with a nicely taken low shot into the right corner sending Sy the wrong way.
Moussa Kante made way to the penalty spot and as he prepared his attempt, Guendouz psyched himself up in the box but despite going the right way, Kante’s powerful shot was too high for him to save. Senegal took a 3-2 lead.
Soufiane Bayazid equalized for Algeria 3-3 with a powerful shot and his animated celebration was enough to show what this meant for him and his tense teammates in the center of the field.
Cheikhou Omar Ndiaye hit the crossbar to send Guendouz into celebration as he made way for Sy who went the wrong way as Youcef Laouafi sent his shot into the right corner to give Algeria a 4-3 lead.
Senegal’s poster boy Lamine Camara was calm on the assignment as his shot in the left corner sent Guendouz the wrong way to make it 4-4.
Mahious, who had scored five of Algeria’s nine goals at the tournament, stepped up with confidence and tried the Panenka but his attempt through the middle was picked up easily by Sy.
The Teranga Lions held their breaths as Ousmane Diouf found the back of the net via a sneaky shot past Guendouz who had dived into the right direction to make it 5-4 for Senegal. The pressure was now on Algeria.
Ahmed Kendouci visibly felt it and when he missed his chance to equalize, it was tears for the home side while Senegal ran onto the pitch in animated celebrations to celebrate the country’s first ever CHAN title.
Meanwhile, Algeria set a new tournament record by not conceding in six games at the tournament in regular time. The final was the first game to go into extra time.