Teranga Lions of Senegal has become the latest defending Champions in the African Cup of Nations AFCON not to reach the quarter finals of the tournament in the edition following their coronation.
Teranga Lions of Senegal fell to Ivory Coast, again Teranga Lions of Senegal suffered their first AFCON defeat since losing to 1-0 to Algeria in the final of the 2019 edition in the Cairo international stadium, Egypt.
Aliou Cissé’s side became the only side to win all three group games in Ivory Coast and were beaming with confidence ahead of their round of 16 meeting with host nation, Ivory Coast.
While Teranga Lions of Senegal enjoyed an extraordinary run in the group stage, African Cup of Nations AFCON host Ivory Coast did not have it so. They had to wait 48 hours after their 4-0 humbling in the hands of Equatorial Guniea to learn their fate of reaching the knockout rounds.
They did so as one of the four best third place teams and parted with their manager Jean-Louis Gasset, with Emerse Fae, who was one of Gasset’s assistants taking over.
How it happened Yamoussoukro
It looked as though the defending champions would break the jinx of losing to Ivory Coast in all of their two previous meetings in the African Cup of Nations AFCON, both coming in 2012 edition in Equatorial Guniea and Gabon.
They stormed into an early lead inside the opening four minutes as Habibou Mouhamadou Diallo brilliantly brought down a Sadio Mané cross with his chest, before taking a touch to set himself up and striking a ferocious shot past Yahia Fofana in the Ivorian goal.
It was a dream start for the Teranga Lions of Senegal, who had conceded just a goal thus far. For a Senegal side that has recorded 15 clean sheets in their previous 21 African Cup of Nations AFCON games, it appeared victory won’t be farfetched.
However, Ivory Coast slowly walked their way back into the game and were much the better side on the night with Seko Fofana and Jean Michael Seri dominating the midfield in a fast tempo game.
Sadio Mané was very lucky to remain in the field few minutes after his country went ahead. The Al Nassr man recklessly tackled Ibrahima Sangaré, catching the midfield with an overstretched leg, and only got a yellow card from the referee Pierre Ghislain Atcho.
Emerse Fae’s African Cup of Nations AFCON masterclass
On his debut as the coach of The Elephants, Emerse Fae was on the brink as many would have predicted but the new man had other ideas to upset the odds.
With time running out of Ivory Coast needing a goal to prevent a third straight defeat in the African Cup of Nations AFCON, interim boss Emerse Fae introduced Nicolas Pepe and Franck Kessie to strengthen their starting to wear out attack.
Pepe forced a glorious save off Edouard Mendy with a chance to restore parity as Ivory Coast continued to pressure. Their moment would come four minutes later, as Pepe again forced a penalty off Mendy.
Fellow substitute Franck Kessie converted from twelve yards to send the game to extra time and eventually penalties.
Moussa Niakhate missed Teranga Lions of Senegal’s third penalty in the shoot-out and Franck Kessie again beat Mendy from the spot for the second time on the night to win it for the Elephants 5-4.
Teranga Lions of Senegal for to the trend
Since Egypt won the African Cup of Nations AFCON, for the third straight time in 2010, no defending champion has made it past the first knockout round of the tournament.
Egypt failed to qualify in 2012 and Zambia won the title. Zambia failed to make it out of their group in 2013 and Nigeria won the title. Nigeria didn’t qualify in 2015 and Ivory Coast won the title.
Two years later in 2017, The Elephants failed to progress from their group, recording just two points from three games and Cameroon won the title.
In Egypt 2019, Cameroon progressed as runner-up in their group but fell 3-2 to Nigeria in their first knockout round games, and Algeria went on to win their second title, beating Senegal thanks to a Bagdad Bounedjah’s lone goal in the final.
In 2021, Algeria failed woefully as they managed to earn just one point in three group games and now in the 2023 edition, despite a flawless group run, Teranga Lions of Senegal has failed to go past their first knockout round game.
Ivory Coast continues to dream on home soil
With the last eight ticket now sealed and Teranga Lions of Senegal has been eliminated, Ivory Coast will have a fairly easy clear path if they are to reach the final.
Awaiting them in the last eight will be the winner of Mali against Burkina Faso, in the round of 16 clash coming up later on Tuesday.
Democratic Republic of Congo, a side that is yet to taste victory in normal time in this African Cup of Nations AFCON could be a possible semi final opponent, as they take on Guinea.
The immediate future beholds a lot of promise for The Elephants but Senegal has proven no better than other defending Champions as they fall in familiar territory.
