The player of FC Liverpool almost single-handedly ensured Senegal’s successful start to the Africa Cup of Nations qualification. The Teranga lions won the last edition of the continental competition on February 6th this year in Cameroon. In the final, Egypt were defeated on penalties following a 0-0 draw in regulation time. The shooter who made the decision was Sadio Mane at the time.
In the last four months, the offensive player has obviously not lost his coolness from the point in any way. On Saturday, the 30-year-old put his men ahead in the 12th minute with a converted penalty, before ten minutes later he made it 2-0. This was also the deserved break.
After the change of sides, Benin made life harder for themselves than necessary. Midfielder Sessi D’Almeida received a red card right at the start of the second period following an emergency stop. Sadio Mane then made the final decision in the 60th minute – once more with a penalty kick. Benin’s consolation goal in the 88th minute by Junior Olaitan went unheeded.
Mane rose to become Senegal’s top scorer following his hat-trick. With 32 goals, he left other national heroes such as Henri Camara (29) and El Hadji Diouf (24) behind. With his 90 competitive games, Mane is only ten games short of overtaking Camara in most of the matches played for the national team.
