From George Aluo, Cairo
It was a night of African coaches on Wednesday in Cairo as Senegal and Algeria zoomed in the Egypt 2019 AFCON final.
While Senegal handled by 43- year old Aliou Cisse triumphed over Tunisia handled by French man Alain Giresse, Algeria who is coached by “home boy” Djamel Belmadi defeated Nigeria handled by Franco German, Gernot Rohr by 2-1.
Speaking after the victories, Cisse stated that it was a big plus for African coaches.
In his words:”I m proud of the feat and hopefully this achievements will open doors for more local coaches to be given opportunities. I am proud to be one of the local coaches here and one who can write history for Senegalese football. Only a few years ago, there were only four local coaches at AFCON; in 2019 we are 14. This is only beneficial to African football’s continued growth.”
Belmadi on his part said it is nice he would be facing his friend Cisse in the final declaring that it is a victory for African coaches.
“Cisse is my good friend. We met in the group stage and I m happy we are meeting again in the final. This is good for African coaches,” Belmadi stated after beating Rohr.
Both Giresse and Rohr have been moving round different African countries for over a decade winning nothing in the process.
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