3 additional accolades for Senegal as they clinch CHAN title by beating hosts Algeria

* The Teranga Lions also win Fair Play award

* Teenage sensation Mamadou Lamine Camara claimed his third Man of the Match

* Goalkeeper Pape Mamadou Sy bag the Best Goalkeeper Award

By Duncan Mlanjira

On top of winning the African Nations Championship (CHAN) title on Saturday by beating hosts Algeria 5-4, Senegal also earned the Fair Play award while their teenage sensation Mamadou Lamine Camara claimed his third Man of the Match while goalkeeper Pape Mamadou Sy bagged the Best Goalkeeper Award.

The triumph of winning the championship, which features footballers playing in their respective national leagues, comes at the back of clinching the Cameroun 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (CHAN) where they also won the Fair Play award.

The West Africans are also proud of their performance as it completed a treble in a year that has seen them also lift the Beach Soccer AFCON.

A report on CAFonline says Algeria’s hopes of winning the title on home soil were crushed in heartbreaking fashion as both sides seemed tense in the opening minutes of the final that would see a new champion for the continental tournament.

After crunchy 120 goalless minutes, the game eventually went into penalties whose scorers were Elhadji Mooutarou Balde, Moussa Ndiaye, Moussa Kante, poster boy Lamine Camara, Ousmane Diouf while Cheikhou Omar Ndiaye missed

Algeria scored through Akram Djahnit (on second attempt after goalkeeper Sy moved off his line), Draoui, Soufiane Bayazid while Mahious, who had scored five of Algeria’s nine goals at the tournament, missed as well as the last teaser Ahmed Kendouci.

However, 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.

The previous champions were the Atlas Lions of Morocco won on February 7, 2021 — becoming the first team to win two consecutive titles in the history of the tournament that was rolled out in 2009 with DR Congo being the maiden champions — defeating Ghana 2-0 in a tournament that had 8 participating teams hosted by Côte d’Ivoire.

The second edition was played in Sudan in 2011 with the number of participants increased from 8 to 16 and in the final, Tunisia thrashed Angola 3-0 while Libya wrote history by winning their first ever CAF major trophy when the Mediterranean Knights  defeated Ghana 4-3 after a goalless draw in full and extra time.

The fourth edition was held in Rwanda in 2016 where DR Congo were crowned champions for the second time defeating Mali 3-0 in the final. Meschak Elia brace and Jonathan Bolingi’s strike meant The Leopards became the first team to bag two CHAN titles.

Morocco won their first CHAN title when they hosted the fifth edition in 2018 thrashing Nigeria 4-0 to win the trophy in grand style through a brace from Zakaria Hadraf before Waleed El Karti and Ayoub El Kaabi — who finished the tournament as Top Scorer on record nine goals — put the cherry on top of the cake for the hosts.

Cameroon hosted the sixth edition of the CHAN in January and February 2021 — an edition delayed due to the CoVID-19 pandemic — but the hosts never made it to the final but Morocco and Mali.

In the final, the defending champions Atlas Lions overcame Mali 2-0 to win the trophy for the second successive time with Soufiane Bouftini and Ayoub El Kaabi scoring the goals in the second half at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaoundé.

Of the 14 countries that make the Confederation of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), only Angola, Madagascar and Mozambique represented the regional body in Algeria — leaving out Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, Swaziland and Associate Member Reunion.

No COSAFA member state have ever lifted the CHAN title while Angola managed to reach the final in the second edition.

The Flames have not been to the CHAN finals and for this edition they were eliminated in the second and final round of qualification after drawing twice against Mozambique — 1-1 at home and 0-0 in Maputo after needing a win or a draw of more than two goals.

The Flames qualified for the second round without kicking a ball after their opponents Zimbabwe were suspended by world football governing body, FIFA alongside Kenya FA over political interference in the running of the association.—Additional info by CAFonline.com