Izuchukwu Okosi
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President Macky Sall of Senegal on Tuesday night awarded the triumphant Teranga Lions national team players cash prizes, national honour and plots of lands each on Tuesday night for their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Senegal overcame Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out in Sunday’s final in Cameroon. The game had finished goalless after extra time.
The victory marked Senegal’s first success after over fifty years of fielding teams in the tournament — and sparked jubilant celebrations across Dakar on Sunday.
Hundreds of thousands of fans also flooded the streets of the city of three million people on Monday — which the government had declared a public holiday — to greet the team as it returned from Cameroon.
However, three people lost their lives during the massive celebrations.
In a ceremony that took place at the presidential palace in the capital Dakar on Tuesday, the president announced a prize of the equivalent of some $87,000 for each team member, as well as a 200 square-metre (2,100 square-foot) plot of land in Dakar, and a 500 square-metre (5,400 square-foot) plot in the nearby city of Diamniadio.
President Macky Sall also appointed team members to the country’s prestigious Order of the Lion.
While speaking at the ceremony, President Sall said: “By your vital force and your creative genius, you have reversed the course of history.
“We dreamed of the cup, you built this dream and you made it come true. There are no words to express you to our pride, our joy and our gratitude.”
The president also urged Senegal coach Aliou Cisse to lead his team to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Teranga Lions of Senegal will lock horns with the Pharaohs of Egypt again over two legs in the World Cup Playoffs at the end of next month.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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