Sarr On Winning AFCON: “I Cried Tears Of Happiness”

By: Watford FC Staff

Ismaïla Sarr described winning the Africa Cup of Nations as “something I will take with me for the rest of my life”, after Senegal lifted the prestigious trophy earlier this month.

The Lions of Teranga beat Egypt 4-2 on penalties in the final following a tight affair which ended goalless after extra-time, with Sarr playing the first 70 minutes in Cameroon.

The Watford winger recovered from a serious knee injury to participate in the tournament in the latter stages, scoring in the quarter-final against Equatorial Guinea and notching an assist in the final-four win over Burkina Faso.

“We obviously left to go to Cameroon with the objective to win the cup, and everyone was behind us,” said Sarr, 23. “The fact that we won for the first time is something that is very, very important for everyone.”

Sarr endured a heartbreaking end to his AFCON journey in 2019, losing 1-0 to Algeria in the final weeks before joining the Hornets.

Two years earlier, he had been on the bench in a quarter-final defeat to Cameroon on penalties. Sarr was delighted to go all the way this time, and has been part of nationwide celebrations in his native country following the achievement.

“That’s my third African Cup. On the first one we got knocked out by Cameroon and I remember crying because it hurt so much,” he recalled.

“The second one we got eliminated in the final against Algeria and again I can remember how much it hurt, and I cried again. But this time in the final I must say I cried because of the happiness, because we finally won.

“The whole country went on to the streets to celebrate with us, it was a lot of people. We were very happy, but when we went back to Senegal and saw everyone, we were even happier. We saw how much it meant to everyone.”

It was a long road to the final for Senegal, and an even longer one for Sarr. The exciting forward suffered a cruel injury in November’s 4-1 win over Manchester United, having scored in the first half.

His AFCON dream appeared to be over, but he joined up with his countrymen after fitness tests in the second half of the competition.

“I thought it was just a knock, but when I tried to walk, I could feel it was painful,” said Sarr.

“I stayed in the dressing room that day and I was trying to understand what was going on. Eventually I found out it was a bad injury and I started working straight away to be able to come back to play for the club.

“When I realised I was actually on the right path, I decided to go to the AFCON with the idea of winning. I tried to be focused and to concentrate, to be able to recover as soon as possible, and I did it.”

Sarr made his return against Equatorial Guinea, scoring a game-sealing goal at 3-1 to mark his comeback. His assist for Sadio Mané in the semi-final led Senegal to a second consecutive final, this time against Egypt.

Making his first start since November, Sarr wasn’t fazed by the gravity of the occasion.

“I was not nervous because it’s not my first time playing in a final and it’s not the first time that I play football,” explained Sarr.

“Of course, I was very excited when the manager told me I was going to start, I was representing my country in a final and all I thought about was going on to the pitch to win a game.”

Senegal ran out 4-2 victors in the penalty shoot-out, and while Sarr had faith his teammates would do the job, he didn’t realise the tie had been won until long after Mané’s decisive penalty rippled the net.

He said: “I saw everyone running, so I ran as well, and I realised we won the cup, but at the very beginning I was telling myself it wasn’t true. And the other people were telling me it was, that we’d won the cup! It’s going to be something I will take with me for the rest of my life.”

Now back at Watford, Sarr returned to action at Vicarage Road in the second half against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend, and was delighted with the reception he received from supporters and teammates.

He is now solely focused on Premier League safety, and will do whatever he can to help the Hornets achieve their aims.

He added: “I am always happy when I come back here, because this is my club, and this is my home. I live here and for me, this is home. I’m very pleased and happy to see the reception from the fans when I went for the warm-up. When I stepped on the pitch, everyone was cheering and clapping, which made me very happy.

“It’s very important that everyone comes together now and we all need to fight together. From the players to the manager, the staff and the board, we need to get together to try and get out of this situation. This situation reminds me a lot of two years ago when we were in the Premier League, and we cannot afford for the same thing to happen again.

“We need to work hard, but not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we need to do it from now.”

Watch Now

Share this article

Other News