Mali defeated Senegal 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw of regulation time to lift the 2019 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations trophy in Niamey (Niger) on Sunday.
Senegal lost the final of the U-20 CAN for the third consecutive time, while the Aiglons won the trophy for the first time in their history.
Boubacar Traoré was demonstrated a formidable efficiency by taking advantage of a center wrongly pushed back by the opposing defense to chain hook and hit the surface, opening the score for Mali (1-0 on the 16th minute.
Free-scoring Senegal side this time, struggled to return to the match but the Aiglons missed the check mark after the break when El Bilal Toure found the net before bumping the ball into the Malian goalie to pull parity in the crucial fixture.
Mamoutou Kané’s men had just missed two big opportunities to fold the match and they were going to pay dearly since Senegal equalized by Souleymane in the 76th minute.
To break the tie, both teams had to go through overtime. There too without much success since the Senegalese goalkeeper pushed a hot balloon first before seeing the Lionceaux get opportunities in the opposing area but failed to find target.
With Lopy’s shot on the post, the session started badly for Senegal as Malians Boubacar Traoré, Lassana N’Diaye and Abdoulaye Diaby (despite the goalkeeper’s impressive display denied them any goal.
Formosa Mendy and Lamine Diack kept Senegal alive but Messin Amadou Ndiaye saw his shot pushed back by the goalkeeper, putting Mali on the road to royal rule.
Malian Mamadou Samaké however found the bar, delaying the deadline. ButOusseynou Niang definitely led the Malians to the promise land when he brilliantly netted the winner for them during the spot kicks.
