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Senegal and Uganda battled it out for a spot in the quarterfinals of the ongoing African Cup of Nations at the Al-Salam Stadium in Cairo.
Earlier in the day, an unheralded Benin Republic had pulled off one of the shocks of the tournament when they eliminated pre-tournament favourites and 4th highest ranked team in Africa: Morocco by defeating the Atlas Lions 4-1 on penalties. Looking at the shock, Senegal would have been wary heading into the clash.
However, there was to be no upset, as a goal from Sadio Mane in the 15th minute was enough for the Teranga Lions to book their spot in the Last Eight where they would face surprise packages in Benin Republic.
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In what was a very physical matchup, Senegal ultimately triumphed and in this piece, we shall be highlighting four talking points from the Round of 16 fixture.
#4 Sadio Mane proves to be the difference maker
Heading into this tournament, there was no player from the African continent who outperformed Sadio Mane in the 2018/2019 season apart from Mo Salah, as the 26-year-old was an instrumental part of the Liverpool squad which pushed Manchester City all the way in the Premier League title race and triumphed on the continent for the sixth time.
In total, Mane scored 26 goals from 50 appearances in all competitions and formed a daunting partnership with Salah and Firmino as the focal point of The Reds’ attack.
Given his standing as one of the top players in the world, it served as a no-brainer that the former Salzburg man would be the one leading his nation’s charge on the continent.
Sadio Mane missed his side’s opening day victory against Tanzania due to a suspension incurred during the qualifiers but was toothless as Senegal fell to Algeria in their second group match.
He was the star of the show in their last match of the group stage, missing the first penalty before going on to score a brace (one of which was a penalty) as Senegal ran out 3-0 winners against Kenya to secure their spot in the round-of-16 as the second placed team in Group C.
Against Uganda, Mane was on hand to give his side the lead after converting a wonderful through ball by Niang M'baye despite being in an acute angle.
He had a chance to make it four goals from three matches after he showed great technique and quick feet to draw a foul from Denis Onyango in the penalty box, but he saw his resultant spot-kick well saved by the Ugandan goalkeeper.
If Senegal are to go all the way, they would rely heavily on Sadio Mane’s impact and while his penalty record so far at the tournament has been woeful, as he showed against Uganda, he still possesses the key to unlock any defence in the world.
#3 Denis Onyango goes from zero to hero
Widely regarded as the best goalkeeper on the African continent at the moment, Denis Onyango played a starring role in helping Uganda qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
In the group stages, he pulled off a host of impressive saves to help The Cranes achieve a second-placed finish in group A and his team would have been counting on his vast experience and leadership quality to take them as far as possible.
The Mamelodi Sundowns shot-stopper has earned a reputation for making himself big in one-on-one situations but was powerless to stop Sadio Mane’s left-footed finish from nestling into his bottom left corner.
Earlier in the match, he had been shown a yellow card for recklessly rushing out of his box and hacking Ibrahim Sarr down and this was to be a recurring theme for the entirety of the match, with the 34-year-old bringing down Sadio Mane in the penalty box with 58 minutes gone.
Given that he was already on a yellow card, Onyango was supposed to have received his marching orders but centre referee Mustapha Ghorba showed great leniency in choosing to let him stay on.
This was to ultimately prove a key decision, as Onyango saved the ensuing penalty by diving low to his left to produce a stunning save and deny Mane the honour of taking Senegal 2-0 up.
Even though his teammates did not take advantage of his save, Dennis Onyango departs Egypt with his reputation enhanced.
#2 Senegal’s march for glory continues
For all the pedigree and reputation Senegal has on the African continent, it is rather surprising that the West African nation is yet to win the Africa Cup of Nations, with their best run being their runners up finish to Cameroon at Mali 2002 when current coach Alou Cisse was still captain of the side.
This is an anomaly, to say the least, and it is one record the Teranga Lions would be desperate to correct.
Senegal is currently ranked 22nd in the world, making them the highest ranked teams on the continent and with players like Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mane, Cheikhou Kouyate, Ibrahim Sarr, Idrissa Gueye but to name a few, they have word beaters who can hold their own anywhere on the planet.
Their victory over Uganda means they are through to the last eight (which is the same stage they got eliminated last time out) and with the calibre of players within their ranks, there is no reason why Senegal cannot go all the way to glory in Egypt.
#1 Uganda leave with their heads held high
When Uganda sealed qualification for the 2019 Nations Cup with a 2-0 away win over Lesotho in the qualifying rounds in October 2018, it meant that the East African Nation would be appearing on the premier stage of African football for the first time in 38 years.
Despite internal strife and training boycotts over owed bonuses, the Ugandan players still showed great determination in finishing second in a group A also containing hosts Egypt, Zimbabwe and DR Congo.
They kicked off their long-awaited AFCON campaign with a 2-0 win over DR Congo with goals from Patrick Akku and Emmanuel Okwi enough to see them through on the day.
They followed that up with a 1-1 stalemate against Zimbabwe before 2-0 losing to Egypt to set up their round-of-16 clash with Senegal.
The Cranes had overachieved in itself by qualifying from the group stage, but they did not let the higher pedigree of their opponents cower them into submission.
While a team in their position would have sat back and ridden out the pressure; happy to get a draw, Uganda gave as good as they got, putting Senegal on the backfoot on a number of occasions and drew some saves from Alfred Gomis in the Senegalese goal.
Though they saw their 2019 AFCON experience end on the night, the Ugandan players' performance was brilliant and they would leave with their heads held high knowing they made 44 million compatriots back home proud.
