Senegal beats Ghana on penalties to emerge as 2019 WAFU cup of nations champions

Senegal’s national team made up of home-based players has beaten the Black Stars B team of Ghana to emerge as the Champions of the 2019 edition of the WAFU cup of Nations tournament.

A very calm but action-packed second half ended goalless even though there were a lot of chances created by both sets of attackers. A much better performance from the hosts failed to produce any goal as Ghana defender Habib Mohammed saw his thumping header in the early minutes crashing into the post.

The Senegalese resumed the second half with a plan that enabled them to control all departments of the match. They outplayed their opponent and managed to get into dangerous positions in search of the opening goal.

The Black Stars soaked the pressure and eventually crawled into the match which saw Shafiu Mumuni and Joseph Esso drawing a couple of fouls in dangerous positions.

The match eventually ended goalless at the end of 90 minutes with Shafiu Mumuni forcing a good save from the Senegalese goalkeeper to push the match into extra time.

Following a pulsating end to the first 15 minutes, Youssouph Badji opened the scoring for Senegal with an unstoppable strike on the 108th minute.

Instant impact from Ghana produced a goal a minute later when Joseph Esso’s non-drop shot found its way into the back of the net.

Ghana who was hoping to win a third successive WAFU title unfortunately lost the penalty shootout 3-1 to Senegal who have now been crowned deserved champions.