The Teranga Cubs are the new Africa Cup of Nations U20 Champions!A couple of headed goals in either half from Souleymane Faye and Lamine Camara were enough for Senegal as they went on to comfortably see off Gambia 2-0 in an eventful final matchup at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday night.##NAJAVA_MECA_7088048##With the country’s maiden youth tournament title, Senegal also capped off the championships with a 100% record after winning all games and conceding none all through their group and knockout matches.Having stumbled in previous occasions in 2015, 2017 and 2019, Senegal finally clinched the top prize as Gambia lost in their finals debut – conceding their first goal(s) in the championships.The win continues Senegal’s latest football domination in Africa that has seen the country win the senior’s Africa Cup of Nations title, beach football title and the recent CHAN triumph.As expected, all individual player awards went to the winning team as Lamine Camara scooped the Player of the Tournament award, Pape Diop won the Golden Boot as Landing Badgi was awarded the Golden Glove gong.SENEGAL DOMINATION CONTINUES! 🔥 The Teranga Cubs are the #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 champions for the first-time ever! 🦁 @Fsfofficielle pic.twitter.com/GqmWeCRWZs— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 (@CAF_Online) March 11, 2023 It didn’t take long for the Teranga Cubs to take strong control of the final as they took the lead early inside the sixth minute through exciting young talent Souleymane Faye. The 20 year old received a cross from the right inside the box and skipped over Moses Jarju to steer his strong header past Pa Dampha who had come out of his area in an attempt to punch the ball away.With much command, Senegal shown their dominance in the entire half with the other decent chance falling to Faye again as he followed up a rebound from Lamine Camara’s saved shot. His shot was however straight to Dampha and went out for a goal kick.What it feels to be the champions of Africa 🇸🇳🥳#TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 | @Fsfofficielle pic.twitter.com/N2reOTUfJw— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 (@CAF_Online) March 11, 2023 A similar script followed in the second half as Senegal -with the first chance of the half- scored, and with another header. A 56th minute corner from the left fell into the path of Faye at the backpost and he headed the ball back into the box finding an open Lamine Camara to glance the ball into a seemingly open net.The goal scorer had turned provider and Senegal were cruising, limiting Gambia to zero shots on target from their eight full attempts.Samba Diallo could have scored a spectacular goal deep into the half had his well-chested bicycle kick sneaked in to the back of the net but his effort kissed the outside of the post to go just wide.Chelsea and Tottenham cruise against the relegation battling Leicester and ForestMouhamed Gueye then struck his right-footed shot on to the top of the crossbar with the game’s final chance and as the final whistle sounded after five added minutes, the Senegal jubilation was visible as Malick Daf and the entire bench rallied into the field to celebrate the win.Senegal will therefore go into May’s U20 World Cup as the African champs alongside the other fop four teams including Nigeria, Tunisia and The Gambia.
