A Tale of Two Fouls, a Towel, a Panenka, and Voodoo

Unless you work in an African embassy or spend too many of your weekday afternoons squinting through the haze of cigarette smoke at a wall of monitors in a kladionica, you are probably blissfully unaware that the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) football tournament recently ended.

To be fair, even the most ardent supporters of European football clubs see AFCON as an unwelcome tournament that comes around every two years and robs their clubs of top players of African descent (we’ll get to that later) right smack in the middle of the club season.

But, don’t worry, Princip’s intrepid sofa surfer (rotating between a larger and smaller one in the same room), watched it so you didn’t have to.

Diehard aficionados of the tournament – like Princip’s sofa surfer – appreciate the pageantry, the chaos, and the voodoo. Add to that the eccentricity, costumes and synchronized dances of the supporters, and the mediocrity of much of the actual football on the pitch becomes almost irrelevant. Be advised, kind of like a kid’s birthday party at an igraonica – the tournament is best enjoyed with an adult beverage (or five) in hand.

So, what did you actually miss?

During this year’s tournament, staged in Morocco from December 21st to January 18th, 24 African countries played a total of 52 matches. Interestingly, 107 of the 658 players involved in the tournament were born in France. And, with 28.8 percent of all players in the tournament born in Europe, it is clear that African countries tap as heavily into their diaspora to build their national teams as European national teams tap into the players of their immigrants. Switzerland, Germany, Austria… we’re looking at you.

To be fair, for the most part, you didn’t miss much great action on the pitch if you skipped the first 5090 minutes of the tournament. More than 20 percent of matches ended 0-0 or 1-0/0-1. And, when the host-nation Morocco wasn’t playing, stadiums were usually fairly empty – think OFK Beograd v Spartak Subotica in Kraljevica Stadium, Zaječar.

The final would be different, right?

Well… yes, the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat was packed (although the Senegalese Football Federation was particularly aggrieved that they were only allocated 3,000 of the more than 66,000 seats in the stadium). After 90 minutes, the final between Senegal and Morocco was a “breathtaking” 0-0. But, then the fun began in stoppage time!

In the 90 ‘+5, Senegal scored from a corner, but Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala had already blown his whistle a second before, after seeing Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi go down while defending in his own box. Hakimi had gone down quickly, dramatically exaggerating the impact of a slight push he had received while defending the corner. Since Ndala had prematurely blown his whistle for that foul just before the ball had crossed the goal line, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) could not review the decision.

Senegal protested, but to no avail. As many of Morocco’s previous opponents had complained about after losing to Morocco throughout the tournament, the Senegalese felt that the referees were suspiciously quick to make decisions in favor of the host nation.

90’ +8: Insult was added to injury three minutes later. Following a corner kick at the other end, VAR intervened after Moroccan star Brahim Diaz went down with a level of choreography that even exceeded his teammate’s just minutes before. Having been touched lightly on the back of his neck, Diaz went down like he had been shot by a sniper hiding in the stands. VAR called the referee over to have a look at the television screen by the side of the pitch. As he tried to concentrate on the tiny monitor, Moroccan players swarmed the referee like he was giving away free food in caci-land, while a remarkably fully-recovered Diaz seemingly instructed the referee to award Morocco a penalty. Given the circumstances, the referee obliged.

Cue the chaos. Senegal’s players felt it was then their turn to surround the referee in protest. But, he stood firm on his call and headed towards the penalty spot. By then, Senegal’s selector Pape Thiaw had seen enough and called his players off the pitch. The team obliged and most of them disappeared down the tunnel to the locker room.

Meanwhile, Senegal and Liverpool legend Sadio Mané was one of the few Senegal players to stay on the field. Fifteen minutes of heated discussions, pleading and hand-wringing followed. The referee, the Moroccan players, and 63,000 Moroccan supporters all seemed perplexed as to what would happen next. Eventually, Mané decided that the only thing Senegal could do – if they were not to simply forfeit the match – was to return to the field and finish the darned thing. He went to the changing room and convinced the team to come back out.

The Benny Hill Show!

Throughout the match – and it seems most of the tournament – Morocco’s ballboys, substitutes and even staff members were tasked with stealing the opposing goalkeeper’s towel. As supporters know, it is now common for goalkeepers to keep a towel near their goal to keep their hands dry in wet weather. During the final, Senegal’s reserve goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf (who hadn’t played a minute all tournament) had an important job, to protect starting goalkeeper Edouard Mendy’s towel.

Keeping possession of the towel throughout the game involved him getting tackled, dragged and chased down the sideline by a roving gang of towel-thieving ballboys.

112’ of extra time: Thankfully for Mendy, when he returned to the field to defend FINA World Diving Champion Brahim Diaz’s penalty, his towel had been well-protected. With dry hands and gloves and a summon of help from above, he strode confidently to the penalty spot in an attempt to put additional thoughts into Diaz’s increasingly unconfident head and then returned to his line. Diaz stood, apparently in deep concentration. Mendy came back out to pay Diaz another reminding visit on the spot, Diaz kissed the ball and then…

Panenka

Boldly, Diaz attempted a panenka. Named after Czechoslovakian player Antonin Panenka who introduced this type of cheeky penalty to the world in the 1976 European Championship Final against West Germany in Belgrade, at „Rajko Mitić“ Stadium, a panenka involves taking a lightly struck (usually chipped) penalty straight to the center of the goal. In 1976, Panenka ran up to the ball, West Germany keeper Sepp Maier dove, Panenka shot slowly down the middle, and Czechoslovakia won the match. As goalkeepers usually gamble whether they should dive left or right, a panenka – when taken well – can leave the goalkeeper looking rather foolish lying on the field.

However, THIS particular panenka was NOT well taken. Diaz ran up to the spot. Mendy did not dive, and Diaz struck it straight at him with all of the power that a moderately-talented two-year-old might have in his attacking arsenal.

Watching the match live, it was hard not to think that Diaz (understand that he is a star player for Real Madrid – not some unknown Moroccan team) felt a pang of remorse for having gone down earlier faster than a gold-digger on the first night in Monaco, and deliberately undercooked his penalty.

Or, if you were supporting Morocco – like their parliamentarian Mohamed Simou – you might have preferred the explanation that Senegal had employed voodoo, juju, or some well-placed black magic to scramble Diaz’s concentration. Diaz pointed to his head after missing, so who really knows???

“Regulation” time ended, and the match went into 30 minutes of extra, extra time. In the fourth minute (officially the 94th minute) of extra time, midfielder Papa Gueye scored a cracking goal from the edge of the box, and Senegal held on until the fat lady sang to win their second AFCON title ever.

If any of the above has you interested in reliving the glory and excitement of AFCON 2025/2026 – find a recording of the final and start watching from the 90th minute onwards (exact minutes listed above) and enjoy!

Side note: It is worth noting that Sadio Mané used some of the vast wealth he earned throughout his career to build hospitals, schools and even a post office to help out the less fortunate in Bambali, the village he grew up in in Senegal. Seen carrying an old iPhone with a cracked screen while playing at Liverpool, he explained his mindset: instead of spending money on new gadgets or luxury items, he prefers to invest in helping people.

Disclaimer: There was no proof whatsoever of ancestral marabouts, gris-gris amulets or any other voodoo employed by Senegal having an influence on the result. Probably.