AFCON 2025 Final: Diouf’s Towel Vigil Turns Backup Goalkeeper Into Senegal Hero – Video

Senegal’s Africa Cup of Nations title win over Morocco produced a number of heroes. One was Sadio Mane, who heroically called his team back from the tunnel after the visitors had walked off in protest. Then there was goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who saved Brahim Diaz’s stoppage-time penalty to send the contest to extra time.

Another such hero was a player who didn’t even step onto the pitch, but became central to one of the most bizarre subplots in one of the most controversial tournament finals in recent history.

Senegal’s second-choice goalkeeper, Yehvann Diou,f found himself playing the role of a bodyguard on the sidelines. He was protecting not one of his teammates, but the towels used by first-choice keeper Edouard Mendy throughout the rain-soaked match in Rabat.

As Senegal clinched a dramatic extra-time win, Diouf’s vigilance in guarding the towels earned widespread praise. Senegalese fans on social media described his actions as nearly as important as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner, which sealed Senegal’s second AFCON crown.

Moroccan Attempts To Steal Mendy’s Towel

Goalkeepers routinely keep towels close at hand to dry themselves during rainy conditions, as was the case during Sunday’s final at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat. As a result, Mendy kept a couple of towels near the goalpost.

However, repeated attempts were made by ball boys to snatch the towels away. This forced Diouf, Senegal’s backup goalkeeper, to stand vigil and intervene time and again along the touchline.

At one point, Diouf was astonishingly chased along the sideline by ball boys. In another sequence captured on video, he lay flat on the pitch, physically shielding one of the towels as a young man attempted to wrestle it away from him.

Footage filmed from the stands also showed Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi throwing one of Mendy’s towels over the advertising boards.

In a separate incident, Morocco midfielder Ismael Saibari appeared to block Diouf from handing a towel back to the Senegal goalkeeper.

Diouf’s Effort Wins Over Senegal Fans

As clips circulated online, Diouf’s thankless work drew admiration across social media. “Yehvann Diouf’s work, guys,” one fan wrote on X. “You’ve earned the respect of an entire country. SOLDIER.”

Diouf himself later poked fun at the incident, posting a photograph of himself biting his medal while holding a towel, captioning it: “Here it is (the medal and the towel).”

Speaking to reporters after the match, the Nice goalkeeper admitted he was baffled by the Moroccan contingent’s fixation on the towels.

“Maybe people read something into those towels, but in any case they were only used to dry the gloves and the face when it’s raining,” he said. “I was just as surprised as you were, but like the team as a whole, we stuck together, and Edouard was able to get the towels he needed.”

Nigeria Goalkeeper Mocks Morocco

This is not the first time that Moroccan players have tried these antics in this year’s AFCON. During the semi-final match against Nigeria, opposition goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali had his towels repeatedly taken by ball boys, forcing him to return to the bench several times to fetch replacements.

After Morocco’s defeat in the AFCON 2025 final, Nwabali took to social media to poke fun at the hosts.

“Make Una use all my towel Una carry wipe Una tears,” he wrote in pidgin English, which roughly translates to “Use all the towels you took from me to wipe your tears”.

(With AP Inputs)