The west African nation of Senegal on Sunday morning confirmed their status as the best footballing country on the continent as they lifted their very first African Nation Championship (CHAN) title following their dramatic 4-5 penalty shootout victory against hosts Algeria in the 2022 edition of the tournament.Having forced the game all the way to penalties following a barren stalemate both in the normal and extra time period in a hostile Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers, Senegal managed to turn around the corner through goalkeeper Pape Sy who saved a potential winning penalty for Algeria to help his side back into the title contention before another Algeria sudden death miss ensured the Pape Thiaw coached side emerged champions of the continent.ANOTHER CONTINENTAL TITLE FOR 🇸🇳 Senegal are the #TotalEnergiesCHAN2022 champions 🏆 The first-ever #TotalEnergiesCHAN title for the Lions of Teranga 🦁 pic.twitter.com/J9ZGLYUpe4— MARHABA (@CAF_Online) February 4, 2023 The victory confirmed Senegal to be the best African team on the continent as it came just one year after the senior Lions of Teranga side lifted the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title.On the other hand Madjid Bougherra, who captained the Algeria senior national team at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, was left one game away from winning his second international title in 13 months with the Desert Foxes after their FIFA Arab Cup triumph.FULL-TIME! ⏰ Senegal beat Algeria in the #TotalEnergiesCHAN2022 final on penalty shootout 🦊#ALGSEN pic.twitter.com/nJIpOcQX9N— MARHABA (@CAF_Online) February 4, 2023 The game had proved to be a close contest all game long as both sides felt confident in their abilities to lift the title. However, the teams lacked the cutting edge in front of goal to cause any meaningful trouble to both sets of defenses in regulation time.That situation proved to be the same when the game was forced into extra time as the deadlock once again remained intact forcing the game to be decided on penalties.##NAJAVA_MECA_6996479##The first three penalties proved to be less of a hurdle for both sides as their respective players managed to find the back of the net with perfect conviction.Algeria got the first swing of advantage when Cheikhou Ndiaye’s fourth penalty for Senegal came off the crossbar. Youssef Laouafi scored to get the home fans on the edge of their seats as they only needed to score the last one to ensure they lifted their maiden title.Senegal win the 2022 CHAN title after defeating Algeria 5-4 on post match penalties following a barren stalemate between the two sides after 120 minutes.This is Senegal’s first CHAN title and comes exactly one year after they lifted the AFCON title. #CHAN #Senegal pic.twitter.com/meg9bfF53R— Ochieng’ Stephen (@soo_ochieng) February 4, 2023 With Lamine Camara scoring the fifth for Senegal, CHAN top scorer Aymen Mahious had a moment of regret when he hit a weak penalty straight and low the middle giving Sy an easy chance of saving which he did to keep his side in the tie.That swing in momentum worked in Senegal’s favour as Ousmane Diouf converted the team’s sixth penalty, something Ahmed Kendouci failed to do for Algeria as his effort came off the crossbar much to the agony of his team and upto forty thousand fans who had thronged the stadium.
