What’s with Morocco players, ball boys trying to swipe opposition goalkeepers’ towels?!
Sunday night was a busy one for two Senegal goalkeepers in their 1-0 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final win over Morocco in Rabat – Édouard Mendy saved Brahim Díaz’s penalty, and Yehvann Diouf protected Mendy’s towel from ball boys.
The Moroccan ball boys, and even an official, seemed willing to stop at nothing, even dragging Diouf across the turf.
At one point in the match, Diouf even had to fend off PSV Eindhoven winger Ismael Saibari – who stood between him and Mendy as the Nice shot-stopper attempted to hand a towel to his teammate, who currently plays for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli after a stint at Chelsea.
Diouf posted a picture of himself in his Instagram story after the win with his AFCON winners’ medal and a towel, writing in French: “There she is (the medal and the towel).”
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Goalkeeper Diouf was not the only Senegal player on towel protection duty. At another point in the game, El Hadji Malick Diouf had to beat the ball boys to another towel thrown in their direction by Achraf Hakimi to keep it away from them.
Earlier in the tournament, Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was also forced to chase sideline towel snatchers to get his own back, baffling watchers. His reaction was… a middle finger.
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Left-back Diouf’s foul on Díaz saw Morocco awarded the controversial stoppage time penalty which sparked a walk-off before Mendy’s save upon Senegal’s return to the pitch.
Earlier in stoppage time, Ismaïla Sarr thought he had scored the winning goal after turning home the rebound from Abdoulaye Seck’s header off the post via a corner. However, Seck was ruled to have fouled Hakimi in arguably the most contentious decision of the night.
Mendy saved Díaz’s panenka penalty and the match went to extra time, where Villarreal midfielder Pape Gueye fired home the winner.
Senegal claimed their second AFCON title in three editions after previously winning the tournament four years ago in Cameroon, beating Egypt in the final.
