The Africa Cup of Nations 2021 delayed edition has finally taken its full course after Senegal were crowned worthy Champions on Sunday.
The Tarenga Lions saw out a resilient Egyptian team thanks to a 4-2 victory in the penalty shootout.
The game ended in a barren draw in regulation time but Senegal showed their class in the shootout, holding their nerves to secure their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations trophy in the Sadio Mane-led squad.
The Liverpool forward missed an early spot-kick in the first half as he blasted his effort straight into the hands of Egyptian goal tender Mohamed Qotb Abou Gabal Ali better known as Gabaski.
Egypt forced the game into extra time as they showed some good pieces of defending while Senegal on their own had themselves to blame for allowing the game into extra time.
Watford forward Ismaila Sarr was terrific down the right flank for Senegal as he pulled two fantastic crosses past the Egyptian goal but no one could supply the finishing touch.
They made their nation proud by delivering the much-needed trophy for the first time to their country, marking their era as a golden generation.
Meanwhile, host Cameroon has crowned bronze winners after seeing off Burkina Faso in the shootout as well.
But the greatest news of the third-place match was the referee Bamlack Tessema who was tagged ‘Man of the match’ by several football fans.
Officiating has been a cause for worry throughout the tournament but what are the main talking points of the just concluded AFCON in Cameroon.
JANNY SIKAZWE BLOWS THE FINAL WHISTLE AT 85 MINUTES
Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe took African Football to another World when he ended an AFCON group game in the 85th minute.
Tunisia was trailing Mali by one goal and Sikazwe called it off abruptly.
He was advised by the match commissioner to complete the game as he recalled both sets of players.
Having lost a good number of minutes during the game due to VAR interventions, the game was supposed to have added time of more than five minutes.
But Sikazwe blew his final whistle again in the 89th minute and 45 seconds causing anger from the Tunisian camp.
He recalled both teams for the third time but Tunisia refused to honour his call.
Janny Sikazwe came out a few days before the closing ceremony of the event to say that God told him to end the match to save his life.
SIKAZWE IGNORING THE VAR
The same Janny Sikazwe was again a centre of attention when he issued a controversial red card to Mali forward El Bilal Touré.
He was called and advised by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to overturn his decision and reduce the punishment to a yellow card but he refused and upheld his Red.
GABON FINED FOR CHANGING HOTEL WITHOUT CAF APPROVAL
The Confederation Of African Football (CAF) Disciplinary Board fined the Gabonese Football Federation $20,000 (£14,600/€17,500) for changing hotels without permission.
The decision came after the board realised that Gabon are no way to be found around the hotel they were assigned to, causing a security risk to the team and the entire tournament.
GABON’S CONTROVERSIAL EQUALISER AGAINST GHANA
Ghana was left furious with the officials of their group game against Gabon after they played a one-all draw in a match the Black Stars needed all three points.
Ghana struck first through skipper Andre Ayew but Gabon equalised to the displeasure of the Ghanaians.
Ayew called it a thing of shame’ for the officials to allow the goal to stand.
The former Swansea man explained to the media that they had a player down on the turf and they intentionally kicked the ball out for a for play, but the referee allowed the Gabonese to start the play and went ahead to score from there.
The Match ended with both sides ending with anger which resulted in a fight.
TETTEY PUNCHING OPPONENT IN A GHANA-GABON POST-MATCH FIGHT
Ghana midfielder Benjamin Tetteh was handed a three-match ban after he was captured in a video to have punched a Gabon player.
The 24-year old Yeni Malatyaspor midfielder was called out of the dressing room by the referee and was shown a straight red for violent conduct.
MICROPHONE TROUBLE DURING TUNISIA AND BURKINA FASO MATCH
Just before the pre-match press conference, someone climbed onto the stage, took the microphones and cables and ran away.
The AFCON 2021 Organising committee had rented that equipment from the individual but didn’t pay him as reported by George Addo Jnr on his official social media page.
EXAMS MISCONDUCT BY EGYPT STRIKER MOHAMED
Egyptian striker Mostafa Mohamed is a computer scientist who was part of the squad that came second in the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The forward left his school to represent his Nation but exams came up and met his absence.
The forward asked a friend of his to take the exams for him and the friend was caught, it has not been mentioned yet the punishment was spelt out for Mohamed and his friend as the former is yet to return from Cameroon.
THE AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION IN GHANA AFCON2021 CAMP
The Black Stars of Ghana were divided after their early elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations 2021 edition in Cameroon.
Some senior players were later accused of using what is called ‘juju’ during the game.
Some sources claimed that Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey accused Andre Ayew of sprinkling some waters in the field before one of their games.
Those sources also claimed that Ayew and a few other senior players invited their traditional doctors to the team’s hotel and they performed some rituals before games.
Partey was pictured refusing to use the captain armband passed onto to him by his skipper Andre Ayew after he was sent off, Partey changed the armband and collected a new one.
The Arsenal man also threatened to quit the team as he dislikes the act but no official statement has been released yet by Partey.
THE OLEMBE TRAGEDY
Eight football fans were reported dead during an AFCON 2021 match involving host Cameroon and Comoros.
The incident occurred after the game as a stampede took place within the Stadium taking the lives of innocent supporters who went to witness their team play.
Eight people died according to the report and several others were injured.
On the flip side, some memorable moments took place during the AFCON in Cameroon as Sierra Leone rewarded player Musa Tombo with a brand new car for scoring his side’s first goal of the tournament.
Senegal was crowned worthy champions as Mendy got the best goalkeeper of the tournament coupled with Sadio Mane’s best player of the tournament award.
Vincent Aboubakar was honoured with his golden boot award having scored eight goals, the second-highest in a single AFCON tournament.
