Head Coach for the Teranga Lions of Senegal, Aliou Cissé has thanked his players for their performance at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament despite losing to the Desert Foxes of Algeria in the final.

The West African country managed to get to the finals of the tournament for the first time in 17 years and was hoping to beat the North Africans to lift their first AFCON trophy.

Their dream was however not realized after losing to a side they lost to in the group phase of the tournament. The Algerians repeated the result from the previous meeting and posted a 1-0 win over Senegal at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday night to ensure they emerged as champions.

Speaking in a post-match interview after losing in the final, Coach Aliou Cissé indicated that they could have won the trophy but were unlucky on the night.

According to him, his players have performed well at the tournament and is thankful for their input for their country.

“We conceded early on and missed a few chances, the controlled the game in the second half yet we still failed to equalize. I congratulate Algeria on their title. We know our strength and our performance didn’t decline for this match”.

“Algeria took advantage of the chance they got to score and we didn’t take our chances. This is football. I would like to thank my team on the effort throughout the tournament. We could have won it but we weren’t lucky enough”, the gaffer shared.