Six months ago, Nicolas Jackson and Mamadou Sarr stood on a makeshift stage in New Jersey and celebrated being crowned (Club) Champions of the World. Last night, they were celebrating again, this time being crowned African Champions after Senegal’s dramatic 1-0 extra-time win over host nation Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final.
Both Chelsea loanees started the final, with Sarr completing all 120 minutes and Jackson playing the 90 minutes of regulation, and being taken off just before the match descended into utter chaos.
Right after a potential winning goal for Senegal from a corner was chalked off for a supposed foul on Achraf Hakimi by Abdoulaye Seck — and not reviewed by VAR — Morocco were awarded a penalty in the dying moments of stoppage from a corner of their own, after a lengthy VAR check. El Hadji Malick Diouf was adjudged to have dragged Brahim Díaz to the ground: just one of those things you see on many corners but rarely see awarded as fouls. Díaz felt the pull and went to ground theatrically. Seen them given, seen them not given. Either way could be justified. The foul on Hakimi was a similar thing as well. Grappling, pushing, shoving on corners is such a gray area these days.
In any case, after the award of the penalty, both the crowd and the players let their emotions boil over, and at one point, Senegal were even threatening to walk off the pitch … before cooler heads finally prevailed and captain Sadio Mané got his team back in order. The clock had ticked past 113 minutes by the time Díaz himself got to take the penalty. And after that long delay, he opted for a Panenka … which, amusingly enough (as a neutral), Édouard Mendy caught with dismissive ease. Shades of Sergio Agüero!
The match then went into extra-time, where Senegal would almost immediately break the deadlock, thanks to an excellent strike from Villarreal midfielder Pape Gueye. They would see out the result from there, finishing the tournament with just two goals conceded (in the seven games) and winning the quarters, semis, and the final itself by matching 1-0 scorelines.
Jackson, who started five games, would finish the tournament with two goals (both scored in their opening match) and one assist. Sarr, who only became a starter in the semifinals after former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly went down with injury, proved himself on one of the biggest stages of his career. The 20-year-old has been a key player for RC Strasbourg this season (just as he was last year). Perhaps we’ll see both loanees back in Chelsea Blue at some point soon.
Congrats to Nico and Mamadou, as well as Édou and K2 for their dramatic win! (Hakim Ziyech missed out on the tournament for Morocco due to injury.)