Mali defeat Senegal in an entertaining afcon u20 final
Mali defeat on form Senegal in AFCON U20 Final 2019
The final of the AFCON U20 was an interesting game with the two football teams having played each other in group B and Senegal wining comfortably by two goals. Moreover, Mali and Senegal were aiming to win the tournament for the first time in their history. Senegal, have lost the previous two finals; in their home country and against Zambia and were on form, winning all games leading to final.
This article analyses the final of AFCON U20 final 2019, what a game it was.
First Half Analysis
Second Half Analysis
First Half Analysis
Second Half Analysis
First Half : Mali 1 - 0 Senegal
Mali were dominant against a strong Senegal team, which was surprisingly resting their top two players (Niang and A.D Ndiaye). Mali created clear cut chances and had more shots at goal(5). Boubacar Traore showed great composure after a brilliant cross and score the opening goal of the final. Senegal were stunned and tried to get back into the game but could not equalize.
First half statistics
Second Half: Mali 1 - 1 Senegal
The second half was very entertaining and open, both teams were attacking each other. The game was end to end in the second half with Senegal coming to life after bringing on star players Niang and Amadou Ndiaye. Niang (15) was a menace to the Mali defense and soon as he came on the balance of the game changed. He could easily minus one or two players using his skill and pace but his delivery into the box was accurate and perfect. Niang toook Mali's defense to the swords and finaly managed to delive a cross that was convert by the best striker of the tournament, Amadou Ndiaye. Amadou Ndiaye, score a beautiful goal, finishing a rebound with an instinctive volley. Niang was on fire, in the 83rd minute he again dribbled into parsing his marker and played a quality cross, which was not finished off by Dramer(10). Towards the 90 minutes the Senegal team was buzzing and threatning to score the second goal but Mali stood tall and firm and prevented Senegal from getting the important goal. Amadou Ndiaye and Niang, combined perfectly and were the highlight of the second half.
The below image, clearly shows statistics that Senegal dominated the second half with Mali hanging on but also had good opportunities to win the game. Senegal won 4 corners, had 6 more shots at goal, 4 were on target and required the Mali keeper to make a save. Mali were happy to see the final whistle go to end the second half,shew!
Extra Time - First Half: Mali 1 - 1 Senegal
The final went into extra time and now it was all about who had the legs to score the second goal. Both teams were going for it and Mali were back in the game. After an inspiring talk from the coach, Mamoutou Kane, Mali looked to win the game in extra time. The game continued in the second half to be end to end. Senegal were finishing the first half of extra time strong again and Mali were pinned back. In extra time Mali made a substitute, players with fresh legs often have an impact on the result. This was a good tactical move by the Mali coach.
Extra Time - Second Half: Mali 1 - 1 Senegal
In the extra time of the second half the drama continued, in the most entertaining AFCON U20 final. Mali and Senegal continued to look for the winner. Dramer (10), used his lovely skills to get past the Mali defense and fire in a shot towards goal which was defended by the Mali defense. Dramer is a real number 10 with similar built and skills like the great number 10's of world football with similar built; Diago Maradona, Lionell Messi and Jay-Jay Okocha. Heavy legs were starting to be a feature in the later stages of the extra time second half, stoppages occurred after every attack from either side. Both teams failed to scored and the game went to penalties.
Penalties - Mali 3 - Senegal 2
The penalty shoot out wast the first against Mali and Senegal, since Egypt beat Ghana. If Senegal had won the match they would have achieved what only Zambia achieved, to win all six games in the AFCON U20. Mali were now favourites after having won penalties against Nigeria. Mali keeper saved two penalties, while Niang skied his shot high over the polls to gift Mali their first AFCON title.
Mali a crowned champions for the first time, while Senegal lose their third straight final. The coach of Senegal will regrat benching two of his best players. Senegal's Amadou Ndiaye, won top goal scorer award and Moussa Ndiye won player of the tournament.
Comments
Post a Comment