Senegal parade AFCON trophy despite being stripped of title before beating Peru in Paris

[p]The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on March 17th reversed [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/senegal/hOIsJLJr/"]Senegal[/a]'s 1-0 final victory over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/morocco/IDKYO3R8/"]Morocco[/a] in Rabat on January 18th and awarded a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/morocco-IDKYO3R8/senegal-hOIsJLJr/?mid=0KhPZfnQ"]3-0 victory to the hosts[/a].[/p][p]On Saturday, in front of a crowd dominated by their supporters, Senegal captain [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/koulibaly-kalidou/hSKz7qT3/"]Kalidou Koulibaly[/a] and his teammates came onto the pitch with the AFCON trophy for a lap of honour after a pre-match concert by Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour.[/p][p]Koulibaly and goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mendy-edouard/8zpLkf6p/"]Edouard Mendy[/a] went up to the stadium's presidential box to place the trophy there in front of Abdoulaye Fall, the president of the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF), among others.[/p][p][b]Senegal played in shirts with two stars: one for their first African title in 2021 and the second one for their disputed January victory.[/b][/p][p]While the squad was almost identical to the one that played in Morocco, Senegal rested Koulibaly, Mendy, Sadio Mane and Iliman Ndiaye, who were not even on the bench.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/peru-Uend67D3/senegal-hOIsJLJr/?mid=2RM8s5se"]They still outplayed a modest Peru team[/a]. Nicolas Jackson scored in the first half, and Ismaila Sarr in the second.[/b][/p][image alt="Senegal's Ismaila Sarr celebrates scoring their second goal with Nicolas Jackson" id="b6d50d1a-e0a0-46d0-8b5a-d6c3e35e9d5b" credit-line="Reuters / Stephanie Lecocq" guid="0388c842-5aa3-404b-bb1b-70615ad1456b" original-width="2967" original-height="2034" /][p]In January, the AFCON final descended into chaos when Senegal players walked off in protest after the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.[/p][p]The players were coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Mane. After Morocco's Brahim Diaz missed the penalty, Pape Gueye scored in extra time to give Senegal a 1-0 victory.[/p][p][b]CAF ruled that Senegal's players had broken the rules by leaving the field without the referee's permission.[/b][/p][p]The FSF lodged an appeal against the CAF decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Wednesday and has not given up on keeping the title.[/p][embed guid="af0a80a7-c549-4bdb-bbf9-9ddedb1b65a3" url="https://x.com/MenInBlazers/status/2037917375157178459" social-type="twitter" /][p]Before the game, nearly 200 Senegal supporters gathered in front of the nearby Basilica of Saint-Denis before making their way to the Stade de France to the sound of traditional drums and percussion.[/p][p]Bally Bagayoko, the newly elected mayor of Saint-Denis, briefly joined the procession.[/p][p]"Welcome to Saint-Denis," said the mayor. "I wanted to thank everyone who organised this wonderful initiative.[/p][p][b]"You are the pride of the residents of working-class neighbourhoods. We have often been discriminated against, often looked down upon.[/b][/p][p][b]"You are showing that you are capable, at such an important moment, of coming together. Today, Africa is united. Everyone behind Senegal."[/b][/p][p]The friendly against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/peru/Uend67D3/"]Peru[/a] was the Lions of Teranga's first match since the Rabat final.[/p][p]They are preparing for the World Cup, where they are in a strong group with France, Norway and either Iraq or Peru's neighbours, Bolivia.[/p][p]Peru finished ninth in the 10-team South American group and did not qualify for the summer's finals in Mexico, Canada and the United States.[/p]