Spurs International: Pape Sarr is sent packing in AFCON penalties by Serge Aurier and Ivory Coast
Pape Sarr has some unfortunate news to share tonight, but Tottenham Hotspur’s performance in the African Cup of Nations is really fantastic. Senegal, the AFCON favourites, were pushed to the limit by Ivory Coast, who narrowly made it to the knockout stages. In the end, the Lions de la Téranga were eliminated from the competition through a penalty shootout. Senegal (4) – 1 Ivory Coast (1) was the final score.
The home team, Cote d’Ivoire, qualified as the final squad from third place and narrowly avoided elimination from the tournament. They did enough to eliminate Senegal from the competition, even though in the process they fired their head coach. Naturally, Sarr kicked off the game, played the whole 120 minutes, and converted one of Senegal’s penalty kicks. Serge Aurier, a former right defender for Tottenham, led the Ivorian team and scored a penalty kick in the shootout.
The irony of a former Tottenham player sending a current Tottenham player home from a tournament is apparent, but despite my sadness for Sarr’s unfulfilled AFCON hopes, I’m not upset that he will be joining Spurs ahead of schedule. He would be a great asset to Tottenham in midfield right now.
Cote d’Ivoire, the home team, qualified as the last squad from third place and only missed elimination from the competition. Even though they fired their head coach in the process, they did enough to remove Senegal from the competition. Of course, Sarr started the match, continued for the entire 120 minutes, and scored one of Senegal’s penalty kicks. The Ivorian team was led by former Tottenham right back Serge Aurier, who also scored a penalty kick during the shootout.
