Unlike Ghana, Nigeria, and Egypt who failed to win their opening AFCON 2023 games against minnows, the Senegal national team started their title defense with a big win earlier today, January 15.
After playing their first AFCON final in 2019, Senegal finally won the title in Cameroon in 2022 after beating Egypt in the final.
They are seen as favourites to win the 2023 edition of the tournament which started in Ivory Coast on January 13, 2024. And they confirmed that by bashing Gambia 3-0 at the Stade Charles Konan Banny de Yamoussoukro.
24-year-old Pape Gueye who plays for Marseille scored the match opener in the 4th minute. Before the end of the first half, the Gambia suffered the biggest blow of the encounter as Ebou Adams was shown a red card.
After minutes of global TV blackout, the second half resumed with the Gambia struggling to cope with a man down.
In the 52nd minute of the encounter, Lamine Camara who plays as an attacking midfielder for Ligue 1 club Metz doubled Senegal’s lead. In the 86th minute, the 20-year-old forward sealed the victory for the defending champions.
The 3-0 win means Senegal are comfortably topping Group C with three points and if they beat Cameroon on January 19, they are already through to the next round of the tournament with one group stage game left to play.
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