Senegal Reserve Goalkeeper Jokes After Afcon Towel Drama
Yehvann Diouf pokes fun at his unexpected towel-guarding role during Senegal’s dramatic Afcon final win
- Reserve keeper Diouf played a key off-field role in Senegal’s Afcon triumph
- Moroccan ball boys repeatedly tried to remove Edouard Mendy’s towel in heavy rain
- Diouf joked about the incident on Instagram after lifting the trophy
Senegal’s reserve goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf has joked about his unexpected role in protecting his team-mate’s towel during a chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final victory on Sunday.
Although the 26-year-old did not play a single minute at the tournament and was an unused substitute in the final in Rabat, Diouf found himself at the centre of one of the match’s most extraordinary moments as Senegal clinched their second continental title in five years.
Heavy rain throughout the final meant first-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, formerly of Chelsea, frequently needed to dry his gloves. That task was repeatedly complicated by Moroccan ball boys attempting to remove or discard Mendy’s towel — a tactic that had also been used during Morocco’s semi-final win over Nigeria.
Diouf stepped in to safeguard the towel throughout the 120-minute contest, shielding it from ball boys and flag bearers amid the increasingly tense atmosphere.
At one stage, Diouf was tackled to the ground by three ball boys and dragged along the turf, while video footage also captured him sprinting away in an effort to keep the towel out of reach. Later images appeared to show Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi throwing one of Senegal’s towels over an advertising hoarding.
Following the dramatic final, Diouf shared a light-hearted post on Instagram, poking fun at the lengths he went to help secure Senegal’s victory. The post featured a photo of his winner’s medal alongside the now-famous towel.
Accompanied by affectionate and laughing emojis, Diouf wrote: “There it is — the medal and the towel.”
