The players and staff from the Senegal U20 side that lifted the 2023 U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Championship held in Egypt were left heavily rewarded after the country’s President Macky Sall gave each member over 2 million shillings for the triumphant victory.According to reports, the President congratulated the players and their technical crew as he announced the cash reward in a ceremony to welcome and celebrate the lion cubs at the Palace of the Republic in recognition of their historic achievement.Cérémonie d’accueil et de célébration des lionceaux au Palais de la République en reconnaissance de leur exploit historique. pic.twitter.com/0c4BieX7P0— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) March 14, 2023 They touched down at the Yoff Military Airport on Monday and were received by Sports Minister Yankhoba Diattara, Vice Presidents of the federation Djibril Wade and Abdoulaye Sow.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.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 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.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.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.##NAJAVA_MECA_7098908##Senegal will therefore go into May’s U20 FIFA World Cup as the African champions alongside the other top four teams including Nigeria, Tunisia and The Gambia.The West African nation have enjoyed a successful year in football, with the senior national team winning the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in Cameroon.Harambee Stars brace for friendly against highly ranked IranThis was followed by the beach soccer team before the home-based national team defeated Algeria to win CHAN 2022 earlier this year.Their female national team have also qualified for the Women’s FIFA World Cup, which will be held in Australia in July.More trouble hits Gor Mahia as FIFA orders club to pay Congolese striker over Ksh 1 Million
