Senegal, assumed leader on paper of this African Cup of Nations, is struggling to assume its status on the ground. This Friday against Guinea, it was a real trench warfare that Senegalese and Guineans fought in a match that kept its promises. Sadio Mané, a highly anticipated African star, is struggling to express himself as well as in his English club Liverpool. How was his match this Friday ?
The accepted expression is “ to be watched like milk on fire “. He will not have had a single square millimeter of land all to himself. Far from collective tactics during confrontations against the best professional clubs in Europe, Sadio Mané is experimenting with La Défense known as “ Man to man » that we favor in selection for players with an extraordinary talent. His little commas, his sudden accelerations, all provoked identical reactions.
The match will have been very frustrating for the Senegalese.
He only touched the ball 36 times, his lowest tally in an Africa Cup of Nations final match.
He lost more ball than ever in CAN with a loss percentage of 39% loss of possession rate
He only shot on goal once, and it was off target.
And his dribbling ? Only 40% success (his lowest rate in the African Cup of Nations)
Elsewhere, Morocco have lost none of their last six Africa Cup of Nations games (5 wins, 1 draw), their longest unbeaten streak since losing none of their first 11 encounters in the competition between February 1972 and March 1978. An eventual champion ?
