Sadio Mane scored the decisive penalty for Senegal helping the the West African nation to win their first Continental trophy.
The 29-year-old missed a chance to put Senegal into the lead after his seventh minute penalty was saved by Mohamed Abou Gabal also known as Gabaski.
Before Mane took the penalty the Egyptian goalkeeper was seen talking to Mohamed Salah in what was seen as an advice to where Mane would hit the penalty.
However, after extra time the Senegalese forward powered the ball past Gabaski and into the bottom corner which was followed by a thunderous celebration from the entire team.
After the match Mane was keen to note that the AFCON trophy was the most important trophy he has won in his career as a footballer.
“It's not only the most important trophy in my life but also the best day in my life. So far the best trophy in my life and I am very proud about it,” Mane stated.
The Liverpool winger noted that after missing the first penalty during the match he was disappointed but his teammates encouraged him afterwards.
“The big difference today are my teammates because after missing the penalty everybody came to me in the dressing room and told me ‘Sadio we don’t care what happened we lose together we win together; we push again and we will make it’.
For the second penalty they all came to and told me ‘We trust you go do it’ that was the difference as it gave me more motivation to shoot and score and I did it,” Mane pointed out.
The African tournament concluded with Sadio Mane being named the player of the tournament as Edouard Mendy was named the best goalkeeper and Cameroon skipper Vincent Aboubakar was the golden boot winner.