PARIS: Senegal’s Pape Gueye opened up about his team’s walk-off at the Africa Cup of Nations final and Morocco’s subsequent missed penalty in an interview on French television on Sunday.

Gueye scored the winning goal as Senegal edged Morocco 1-0 in extra time in a controversial game in Rabat last week.

Morocco were awarded a late penalty sparking a walk-off from the eventual winners, leading to a 20-minute delay.

When Senegal came back Brahim Diaz fluffed his penalty, while Gueye scored the winner in extra-time.

“We are only human, we realised our mistake and came back out,” said the 26-year-old midfielder Gueye. “Anyone can make a mistake,” he added.

Gueye praised former Liverpool star Sadio Mane, who remained on the pitch and urged his teammates to return to the game for the penalty.

Senegal were already furious at having a goal disallowed for a soft-looking foul minutes earlier.

“He found the right thing to say at the right moment and it shows just how important he is to us,” he said. “We owe him a big thank you.”

Gueye also expressed surprise that Diaz dared attempt a pane­nka penalty that went badly wrong.

“It was daring and I would not have risked that myself,” he said.

The Moroccan Football Fede­ra­tion has formally referred the walkout and supporters’ behaviour to the Confederation of Afri­can Football (CAF), which organises AFCON and FIFA.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2026