The Senegalese national football team secured its qualification for the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco 2025 after defeating the Sudanese team with a score of three goals to one. This match took place on Saturday, January 3, at the Grand Stadium of Tangier.
Despite the clear superiority on the field and the quality of players in favor of Senegal, the Teranga Lions found it difficult to overcome the trap set by the Falcons of Jedian with their remarkable performance and fighting spirit on the pitch, managing to open the scoring in the early minutes of the match.
After the whistle blew, both teams played with a degree of caution, employing high defense to confine the ball to the midfield, before the Sudanese team managed to breach Senegal’s defense in the sixth minute of the match, where Ammar Ibrahim, a forward for Avondale FC playing in the second division in Australia, dribbled past one of the defenders before shooting with his left foot a curved ball from the edge of the penalty area, which settled in the right corner of Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy’s net.
Throughout the early minutes of the first half, which was attended by more than 30,000 spectators, the Senegalese national team maintained control of the match and was closer to scoring the equalizer on several occasions, which they achieved in the 29th minute when veteran Sadio Mané delivered a low cross to Bamba Dieng, who powerfully shot from outside the penalty area to settle on the right side of Sudanese goalkeeper Munjed Abou Zeid.
By continuing to dominate possession, which exceeded 70 percent, the Senegalese team obtained a penalty in the 35th minute of the match; however, Mauritania referee Dahan Baid canceled the decision after reviewing the VAR, which confirmed an offside infraction against the Senegalese striker. The referee also canceled a second goal in the 43rd minute scored by Ismaila Sarr for being in an offside position.
In the third minute of stoppage time (45+3), Bamba Dieng scored again for the Senegalese team, scoring the go-ahead goal with a brilliant low shot to the left of the Sudanese goalkeeper, after receiving a ball on a silver platter from forward Nicolas Jackson.
As the second half of the match started, the Sudanese team nearly equalized after building a coordinated attack from the right side, following several passes among the players. Player Shady Ezz El-Din, who plays for the Dutch second-division side De Graafschap, received the ball face-to-face with the goalkeeper, but the latter managed to save the ball and avert danger.
In the 53rd minute, Senegalese coach Bab Tiao made substitutions, replacing Nicolas Jackson and Ismaila Jacobs, who had received a yellow card, with West Ham’s Haji Diouf and Lazio’s Boulaye Dia. Meanwhile, Sudan’s coach Kwesi Appiah replaced defender Mustafa Mohamed by introducing Al-Tayeb Abdel-Razek in the 60th minute, and then substituted striker Mohamed Yakoub with Salah El-Din Adel to reinforce the midfield.
Senegal’s coach also made two crucial substitutions in the 74th minute by introducing Lamine Kamara and Ibrahim Mbaye in place of Mohamedou Habib Diallo and striker Ismaila Sarr, which provided new momentum to the midfield and attacking lines of the Teranga Lions.
The substitute, Ibrahim Mbaye, a Paris Saint-Germain striker, lived up to the coach’s trust, as in the 77th minute he capitalized on a mistake from the Sudanese defense in clearing a long ball played by Sadio Mané to score a goal from a difficult angle that Sudanese goalkeeper Munjed Abou Zeid could not track.
Although the match seemed decided in favor of the Teranga Lions due to the quality of the players and the history of their encounters, the Sudanese team delivered an honorable performance, utilizing group coherence and taking advantage of counterattacks and long-range shots.
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