This archive report was first published on 15 July 2019.
On Sunday, July 14, 2019, Senegal's national team, the Teranga Lions, made history by reaching the Africa Cup of Nations final for the second time. The team secured a 1-0 win over Tunisia in a tense semi-final match held at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo.
The winning goal was scored in extra time, courtesy of a Dylan Bronn own goal. With 11 minutes gone in extra time, goalkeeper Mouez Hassen pushed a free kick against the head of Bronn, and the ball went backwards into the net.
Tunisia thought they had a chance to equalise when Idrissa Gueye handled the ball in the box, but the Ethiopian referee rejected their penalty appeals after checking the incident on the VAR monitor.
Senegal's coach, Aliou Cisse, had acknowledged on Saturday that the team was facing their toughest challenge yet in their bid to win the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time.
With Senegal being the highest-ranked African nation, at 22nd in the world, Cisse is bidding to lead his country a step further than the team he captained in an agonising penalty shootout defeat to Cameroon at the 2002 final.
Coach Cisse expressed his team's determination to win the tournament, saying, 'We're close to the goal, in the sense of us being in the semi-finals. Having got to this stage here we have hope. But we know the hardest is yet to come.'
