Senegal U20 coach praises Egypt despite early exit

Senegal coach Malick Daf says Egypt gave a good account of themselves despite the TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations host nation exiting the tournament early

The Teranga Cubs beat Egypt 4-0 at the Cairo International Stadium on Saturday to eliminate the host nation from the tournament.

The West Africans produced a dominant second half performance to put four past the hosts with young Zulte Waregem forward Pape Diop scoring a hat-trick.

The Teranga Lions had already qualified for the quarter-finals before Saturday's match against Egypt.

Malick Daf and his charges braved Egypt's first half pressure before downing them in the second period.

"We were subjected to many pressures, but we succeeded in getting rid of them and achieved an important victory," said Senegal coach Malick Daf.

"The Egyptian national team played a good match but we succeeded in reaching our goal and won.

"We faced the Egyptian national team, which succeeded in defeating us in the past, but this is part of the past and we are now in the present, and football is advancing.

"Egypt is the host country and has very good elements, and facing them was not easy," the former U-17 coach.

"We play as a group, but I preferred to remove players who have yellow cards for fear of taking risks.

"I see that the Egyptian national team is a very good team, but this is football because no one keeps winning always."