AFCON: Senegal deserve praise after Benin win – Pape Thiaw

Senegal coach Pape Thiaw praised his side for their bravery to defeat Benin in their final group fixture of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco.

The Lions of Teranga underlined their AFCON title credentials with a commanding 3-0 victory over Benin in their final Group D encounter, in an entertaining contest played in Tangiers on Tuesday.

Abdoulaye Seck rose highest to power home a header from Krépin Diatta to put Senegal ahead before Habib Diallo made it 2-0 following a sliding pass from Sadio Mane.

The match took a dramatic turn in the 71st minute when captain Kalidou Koulibaly was shown a red card following a VAR review, forcing Senegal to see out the contest with ten men for the final quarter of an hour. However, in added minutes, Cherif Ndiaye converted from the penalty spot after Ibrahim Mbaye was brought down in the area, sealing a comprehensive scoreline.

Senegal faced a determined Benin

“The players deserve all the praise for their performance in this difficult match that we played with ten men for some parts of the game. We faced a very determined Benin team but we managed to achieve our main objective of finishing top of the group,” said Thiaw as quoted by CAFOnline.com.

“Our next objective is to correct the mistakes we made in our group stage match before we go into the Round of 16 because on that stage there will be no rooms for errors which will be published. We will use the next few days to address these problems.”

Abdoulaye Seck, who won man of the match, said; “I am delighted to have won the award but for me it was a collective team effort that led to this. We knew from the start that the match was not going to be easy because Benin came out to fight. But the effort of everyone ensured that we secured this victory despite playing with ten men later on in the game.”

Senegal finished top of Group D, while Benin, despite the defeat, progress to the Round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams.