By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
The reigning African Footballer of the year and Liverpool star, Sadio Mane’s 82 minutes goal against Guinea-Bissau on Sunday was enough to qualify Senegal for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
With the 1-0 victory in Guinea-Bissau, Senegal becane the second qualifiers after hosts Cameroon.
The match became easier for Senegal when their opponents were reduced to 10 men by the red-carding of Jorge ‘Bura’ Nogueira midway through the second half in Bissau.
It has been a memorable five days for Mane, who scored the first goal and created the second when Senegal beat Guinea-Bissau 2-0 in Thies near Dakar last Wednesday, according to AFP report.
The two victories lifted Senegal, currently the top ranked national team in Africa, to a maximum 12 points from four matches in Group I, and they qualified with two matches to spare.
Senegal will complete their schedule between March 22 and 30 by travelling to Congo Brazzaville and hosting eSwatini, and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will probably request that Mane be rested.
Recall that Congo has six points, Guinea-Bissau three and eSwatini none in the struggle to qualify with 2002 and 2019 runners-up Senegal.
A win for the Congolese in eSwatini Monday would put them in pole position to reach the finals after missing out on the 2019 tournament in Egypt.
Another Liverpool star who scored was Guinea midfielder, Naby Keita, but Ahmat Abdaraman levelled just before half-time for Chad, who forced a 1-1 Group A draw in N’Djamena for their first point.
Guinea top the table with eight points from four matches, but Mali can overtake them by winning in Namibia Tuesday.
