Benin midfielder Hassane Imourane says the Cheetahs were not lucky when they lost to Senegal in the quarter-finals of the TotalEnergies U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Cairo.
Samba Diallo headed Senegal into the semi-finals six minutes into the second half of the closely contested match.
The young midfielder was named the TotalEnergies Man of the Match for his strong performance against the impressive Teranga Cubs of Malick Daf.
“It was a very strong match from the two teams but unfortunately we were not lucky and we suffered a defeat,” Hassane Imourane told journalists.
“It is good that I won the Man of the Match award but I cannot be happy after the defeat.”
The Cheetahs defended well in the first half to restrict the Senegalese forwards but they failed to threaten Landing Badji in the Teranga Cubs goal.
“The team put in a very strong performance but in the end success was in favour of Senegal and they qualify for the semi-finals,” Hassane added.
Source: Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF)