Aliou Cisse: Senegal coach's path to Africa Cup of Nations glory

Aliou Cisse pointedly looked around Bamako's Stade du 26 Mars, then began a long run-up and blasted his penalty kick onto the shins of Boukar Alioum to hand Cameroon the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations title.

The final of the tournament in Mali was the first opportunity for Senegal to lift the continent's most treasured sporting prize, but their captain botched the script with the final attempt of the shootout following a 0-0 draw after extra time.

It has taken 20 years — almost to the day — for Cisse to expunge those demons and finally get his, and Senegal's, hands on the trophy.

At 45 — he will be 46 next month — Cisse is the second-youngest coach to win the title, after Herve Renard with Zambia in 2012. He is also now a poster boy for a growing stable of African coaches at the top of the continent's game after years of jobs being dominated by European and Latin American imports.

Cisse was in tears, and did jigs of joy, after Sunday's final victory over Egypt, but not before having to go through the gut-churning agony of another penalty shootout before finally being crowned African champions.

It was a first glimpse at the emotions swirling inside a usually stoic-looking coach, whose discourses with the media are clear and precise but rarely give away any hint of what lies behind the man.

That is reserved for the inner sanctum of the team and now, too, the post-match celebrations.

This was a fifth Nations Cup for Cisse; two as a player in 2000 and 2002 and now three in a row as coach.

It was also a vindication of the Senegalese Football Federation sticking with a man who has had to run a gauntlet of criticism, often from his own former team-mates too, yet has delivered the goods.

Both Khalilou Fadiga, who was in Cameroon on the