Wild celebrations in Dakar as Senegal beat Egypt to claim first Africa Cup of Nations title

There were scenes of wild celebrations on the streets of Dakar after Sadio Mané finally delivered a first African Cup for Senegal, and Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah could do nothing about it but stand and watch.

Mané drilled the decisive penalty in a shootout into the bottom left corner to beat Salah and Egypt in Sunday's final in Cameroon and make up for missing a penalty early in the game.

Senegal won the shootout 4-2 after it ended 0-0 after extra time. Salah, who was supposed to be his team's final penalty taker, didn't get a say in the shootout after two of his teammates missed.

Senegal had lost two finals previously, including against Algeria at the last African Cup of Nations in Egypt in 2019, when Mané was left inconsolable.

This time Mané provided the winning moment. He raced off to joyously celebrate with teammates but also returned to spend some time consoling Salah, who was in tears.

“We are proud,” said Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who was also crucial to the cause by saving a penalty in the shootout. “We never won before. We worked really hard to win this trophy and today we won as a group, as a country."

The final at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde was billed as a battle between Liverpool forwards Mané and Salah, who were both searching for their first major title with their country.

But it never reached the heights of a classic despite the presence of the two superstars.

That was even after the final started with drama when Senegal won a penalty inside the opening five minutes for Mohamed Abdelmonem's foul on Saliou Ciss.

When it became clear that Mané was going to take it, Salah went over to goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal to give him some advice while covering his mouth with his hand. That appeared to