BREAKING: Algeria Crowns African Champions, Lifted 2019 AFCON
Published July 19,2019
Algeria on Friday lifted the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the second time when a fortuitous second-minute goal gave them a 1-0 win over Senegal in the final.
The fans around the stadium had barely found their seats before Baghdad Bounedja found the back of the net in the 2nd minute of the game.
His shot was unexpected because another Algerian striker had moved into space expecting a pass from Bounedja.
Bounedjah didn’t waste time to fire a shot which took an unexpected deflection off a defender and looped over the bewildered goalkeeper Alfred Gomis and dropped right inside the net.
Algeria sat back after that and the first half turned into a scrappy, bad-tempered affair as Senegal, who have never won the title, failed to threaten their defence.
Senegal were awarded a penalty for handball in the second half but the decision was revoked following a VAR review.
Ismaila Sarr missed Senegal’s best chance by volleying wide from inside the area.
Algeria last won the AFCON in 1990, beating Nigeria 1-0 to lift their first AFCON title.
The North African side had also beaten Senegal 1-0 in the group stage.
Nigeria had earlier won the third place match on Wednesday, beating Tunisia to pick the bronze medal.
