Sadio Mané after Senegal AFCON glory: "It's the best day of my life"
Mané was named player of the tournament after Senegal's historic victory over Egypt in the AFCON final in Cameroon.
Sadio Mané has described winning Senegal's first Africa Cup of Nations as the highlight of his career.
The Liverpool forward scored the winning penalty for his country in their penalty shootout win over Egypt on Sunday. Mané had seen his own first-half penalty saved after just seven minutes in Sunday's final, which eventually ended 0-0 after extra time.
"Best day of my life"
The Lions of Teranga had lost their previous two AFCON finals, including a 1-0 defeat by Algeria in 2019. Speaking after the game, Mané said: "It's the best day of my life and the best trophy of my life.
"I won the Champions League and some [other] trophies but this is the special one for me. This is more important for me.
"I am happy for myself, my people and all of my family."
Penalty blow
The Senegal star praised his team-mates with giving him the strength take a penalty in the shootout, where he converted the last spot-kick in the 4-2 triumph.
"When I missed the first penalty, it was a big blow for me," he continued.
"But my team-mates came to me and said 'Sadio, we lose together and we win together. We know you. You have done too much for us - keep on going'.
"That made me stronger and I think it made the difference when I got the second one.
"All the boys came to me and said 'Sadio, we trust you' and that gave me more motivation. The trophy belongs to the whole Senegal team - everyone deserves it."
Mané was named player of the tournament after Senegal's famous win over Egypt.