Mané’s laser-guided penalty lights up Africa’s day of World Cup joy and pain

Whoever writes Sadio Mané’s scripts has been on form lately. For the second time in eight weeks, the Liverpool forward found himself with the chance to seal victory for Senegal against Egypt in a penalty shootout, although this time rather than being crowned African champions, it was for a place at the World Cup.

There had been an air of inevitability about the whole evening after Boulaye Dia’s effort deflected in off Hamdi Fathi in the fourth minute at the new Diamniadio Olympic Stadium in Dakar, which was packed with a capacity 50,000 crowd hours before kick-off. That early goal cancelled out Egypt’s 1-0 advantage from the first leg and Ismaïla Sarr had the chance to ease Senegal’s path to qualification long before the drama of the shootout, only for the Watford forward to miss a relatively straightforward opportunity.

And what drama. A series of lasers had been directed at visiting players throughout the match but they seemed to multiply as Mohamed Salah stepped up to take Egypt’s first penalty after Kalidou Koulibaly had missed the opener for Senegal. Mané’s Anfield teammate, who didn’t even get the chance to take a penalty in the Afcon final as he was down as the Pharaohs’ fifth taker, stepped up and saw his attempt clear the crossbar by several feet to the delight of the home supporters.

It was only when Sarr dispatched the fifth penalty of the shootout that the deadlock was finally broken, before Mostafa Mohamed’s effort was saved by Édouard Mendy to present Mané with the opportunity to seal Senegal’s third qualification for the World Cup.

“The game is over. Everything is over,” said Egypt’s head coach, Carlos Quieroz afterwards. “I have not much to say but words of gratitude to the players.” He was surprisingly