Sadio Mane provided the goods for Senegal yet again in their last night’s victory over Burkina Faso. It’s been a tournament in which many star players simply failed to turn up, but Sadio is not one of those.With the nation’s expectations resting on his shoulders, the Liverpool star showed his ability to dance around defenders as he delivered an assist for Idrissa Gueye and scored a terrific goal to seal the win.”We knew it was not going to be at all easy to get to two straight AFCON finals, but the most important for us now is to go all the way and win it, whoever we come up against. We were up against a really good Burkina side who caused us a lot of problems. We expected a tough game and it was but we stayed calm and created lots of chances. I think we deserved to win. I am really proud personally and very happy for myself, my teammates and the country.”Sadio Mane gives back his number 10 shirt to the ‘original’ owner Khalilou Fadiga of the 2002 squad. Nice stuff 📹- Bedjosessien IG pic.twitter.com/9hZFizxBlJ— Saddick Adams (@SaddickAdams) February 1, 2022 Senegal will meet wither hosts Cameroon or Egypt in the final on Sunday. What could prove a factor in the battle for the trophy is the fact that the Senegalese team will get a bit more rest than the other finalist. However, the games in such a tournament are played for national and professional pride and are largely fuelled by adrenaline.Senegal are yet to win the continental title but came close in Cairo in 2019.”Experience is a good asset. I think that has always been the case since the start of this tournament. We suffered so much with a lot of Covid cases and several injuries too. We had a very difficult time but with our experience, we kept calm until we recovered. We played in the final last time, so we have experience and we will try to win this trophy.”AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS 2021Semi-finalWednesdayBurkina Faso – Senegal 1-3 (0-0)/Toure 82 – Diallo 70, Gana Gueye 76, Mane 87/Thursday22.00: (2.40) Cameroon (2.85) Egypt (3.85)***odds are subject to change
