By Victor Kanayo
Senegal on Friday night defeated Morocco 2-1 in the final of the just concluded CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations to lift the title in a pulsating encounter decided inside the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Baraki, Algiers, Algeria’s capital.
Latest Proof Of Dominance
The latest overall victory by the Senegalese confirm their total dominance of African football within just 15 months.
In just over one year, Senegal have won all five available male titles in Africa.
They’ve competed and successfully won the Senior Nation’s Cup in Cameroon, Continental Beach Soccer championship in Mozambique, African Nation Championship (CHAN) in Algeria, U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and now the U17 title.
How Senegal Conquered Morocco U17 final
Despite going behind early in the first half to Morocco, Senegal showed character, dug deep, and scored two late goals to seal the title.
The first was a penalty that was calmly dispatched by Serigne Diouf in the 80th minute, before Mamdou Sawane, who just came off the bench, scored the winner three minutes after.
Winning Various Team/Awards
Before the final, Senegal won all their matches.
Later on, two of their players – Amara Diouf and Serigne Diouf were voted best scorer and best goalkeeper of the tournament.
Burkina Faso’s Souleymane Alio emerged the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, while Morocco won the fair play trophy as the best-behaved team in the 14th edition of the tournament and the first edition with twelve teams instead of eight.
Third Place Decider And Others
In the third place match, Burkina Faso beat Mali 2-1, in regulation time to be named third best team.
The competition held in three venues in three cities across Algeria – Algiers, Annaba, and Constantine.
Cameroon were the defending champions but were eliminated in the group stage.
Heading To FIFA U17 World Cup
Senegal, Morocco, Mali and Burkina Faso will now represent Africa at the upcoming FIFA U17 World Cup in a venue yet to be determined after Peru was stopped from hosting.
