Golden Arrows head coach Manqoba Mngqithi has given his opinion on the chaotic scenes that happened in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final between Morocco and Senegal, saying it was influenced by how the host nation had been benefiting from contentious calls the whole tournament.
The final in Rabat was goalless in injury-time when the Atlas Lions received a penalty call which Mngqithi believes was the right decision, but large parts of the Senegal players reacted by walking off the pitch.
With the intervention of veteran attacker Sadio Mane the Lions of Taranga returned to the game, before goalkeeper Edouard Mendy saved the penalty. Pape Gueye then scored a screamer in extra-time to secure the title .
Mngqithi felt that the home side didn’t take their chances in the game, while adding that what he thinks enraged the Senegalese in that moment was that Morocco had enjoyed favourable results throughout the competition.
“I think Senegal started the game very strong, they put a lot of pressure on Morocco,” said Mngqithi on SABC TV.
“As a result, we did not see [Brahim] Diaz, we did not see [Achraf] Hakimi for the whole of the first half, but we did see Mane. We did see Gana Gueye.
“We did see most of the offensive players, [Nicolas] Jackson was also there for Senegal. But the second half tilted a little bit and we started to see a lot of Hakimi in the defensive third of Senegal and we started to see Diaz with some moments.
“They missed some sitters, which is very uncharacteristic of the North Africans. If you look at the chances that they got, the one that I said, if that cross, if [Abdessamad] Ezzalzouli had put it on [Ayoub] El Kaabi in the head it could have been a goal.
“The one that was given to El Kaabi by Diaz, the one on one with the keeper, which should have been a goal, but they did not take those moments and up until at the end of the game.
“And I must be honest with you, I do believe it was a penalty for Morocco. But the problem here is the ripple effect of the decisions that have been taken favouring Morocco throughout the tournament.
“And that is what maybe enraged Senegal not because the penalty was not a penalty. The penalty was a penalty and the goal that Senegal scored, there are question marks with regard to the foul, because both players were fouling each other.”
