Six minutes into the Africa Cup of Nations final, Sadio Mané, the Senegalese striker, missed a golden opportunity to give his side an early advantage when he struck a penalty straight at Egypt’s goalkeeper, said Isabel Baldwin in the Daily Mail. More than two hours later, the Liverpool player atoned for that error by scoring the winner in the penalty shoot-out, after the match had failed to produce a single goal. The west African team were seeking their first ever victory in the tournament, having lost in the 2019 final to Algeria. And overall, they deserved their win, for in “energy-sapping” conditions at Cameroon’s Olembé stadium, they created more chances, and played with more ambition, than seven-time champions Egypt.
In truth, this was a pretty “dreadful” game, said Jonathan Wilson…
