This archive report was first published on 16 July 2019.
On July 11, 2019, the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt witnessed a moment of magic that sparked the tournament to life. Among the many exciting moments was that of Lawrence Masira, a young Kenyan ball boy, alias Ozil Boy, who stepped out of the tunnel to face the Eagles of Carthage during the Tunisia vs Madagascar final match.
As he prepared to escort the players onto the field, Masira was pranked by Malagasy midfielder Lalaina Nomenjanahary in the tunnel. Nomenjanahary leaned over and cheekily tapped Masira on the shoulder, who in turn thought it was the young girl directly behind him before later realising it was the Malagasy midfielder.
Despite the prank, Masira couldn't hide his glee after rubbing shoulders with the continent's finest footballers during the 32nd edition of AFCON in Egypt. He shared a special moment with the Paris FC star, Barea, and four other Kenyan children escorted him in his final AFCON game against Tunisia, who proceeded to the semifinals after defeating the tournament first timers 3-0.
Senegal then defeated Tunisia in the semifinal to book a date against Algeria in the final on Friday, July 19.
