Morocco coach Regragui says Thiaw 'brought shame' after chaotic Afcon final

Morocco head coach Walid Regragui accused Senegal’s coach Pape Thiaw of having “brought shame on African football” after the Africa Cup of Nations final descended into chaos. Regragui described the match as “a final with a Hitchcockian script”. After Senegal had a goal ruled out in stoppage time, Morocco were awarded a penalty by the video assistant referee, prompting Senegal’s players to walk off the pitch in protest.

When they returned, Brahim Díaz missed the penalty with what Regragui called a duffed Panenka, and Senegal went on to win in extra time. Regragui said: “The image we’ve given of Africa is shameful. A coach who asks his players to leave the field … What Pape did does not honour Africa.

He had already started in the [pre-match] press conference. He wasn’t classy. But he is a champion, so he can say whatever he wants. We stopped the match in the eyes of the world for 10 minutes. That didn’t help Brahim. That doesn’t excuse Brahim for the way he hit the penalty. He hit it like that and we have to accept it.

We were one minute from being African champions. That’s football. It’s often cruel. We missed what for some was the opportunity of a lifetime.” Pape Gueye, who scored the winner, said: “What we felt was injustice. There had been a foul for us and the referee chose not to look at the VAR.

Key Topics

Sports, Walid Regragui, Pape Thiaw, Pape Gueye, Brahim Díaz, Senegal