The final, which was marred by controversy in the closing stages, saw the Atlas Lions awarded a penalty with only two minutes of normal added time remaining.
Though Senegal protested the decision, and threatened to abandon the final, they rescinded their threats and allowed Morocco to take the penalty.
Diaz, who was the star player for Morocco from tournament kick-off, through to the group stages, and up until the grand finale, having scored five goals from seven matches, stepped up to take the resultant kick.
However, his attempted Panenka kick was easily saved by Edouard Mendy, taking the final into extra-time. Senegal capitalised on the situation, to score courtesy of Pape Gueye to win the final 1-0 and clinch their second African title, denying Morocco the chance to end their 50-year wait.
Diaz later apologised for the missed opportunity on his social media pages: He wrote: “I failed, and I take full responsibility and apologise with all my heart.
“It will be hard for me to recover because this wound does not heal easily, but I will try. Not for myself, but for all who believed in me and for all who suffered with me.
“I will keep going until someday I can give back all this love and be a pride for my Moroccan people.”
The Everton forward has openly criticised Diaz of Real Madrid for the missed penalty saying he wanted to act like a star after his superb run in the 2025 edition, but got his effort saved.
‘There was a bit of disrespect’
“We were just saying he was going to miss,” Ndiaye said in an interview with British newspaper The Times. “I was praying, saying, ‘He’s going to miss, he’s going to miss.’”
He added: “I felt there was a bit of disrespect. I’m not saying he meant to disrespect us, but it was either that, or he wanted to act like a star after everything that had just happened.”
Asked whether he would have stepped up to take such a penalty at the heated moment, Ndiaye responded: “I don’t know if I would have tried it. But you were minutes away from becoming king in your own country.
“They hadn’t won it in so many years, and all you had to do was take your chance and score. So, I don’t understand why he did that, but I’m glad he did. I think after that, we knew we were going to win.”
‘We felt it was unfair’
Senegal’s decision to cause abandonment prompted the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to sanction their head coach Pape Thiaw for five (5) official CAF matches for his unsporting conduct, alongside Ndiaye, and Ismaila Sarr, who were banned for two (2) CAF matches for unsporting behaviour towards the referee.
Discussing the situation, Ndiaye, who began playing with French clubs Rouen Sapins, Rouen, and Marseille before moving to Senegal with Dakar Sacre-Cœur, recalled: “We went crazy. We were wondering what was happening.
“We were completely beside ourselves. It’s the final and we’re on the verge of losing. Of course, we stayed united as a team. When everyone says we’re going to do something, we do it.”
Ndiaye continued: “We were saying to ourselves: this can’t happen to us. After everything we’ve been through, we felt it was unfair. And then after that, the others came back.
“Sadio (Mane) said: ‘Get back on the pitch and play the match.’”
On whether the players were aware that pulling out of AFCON final could trigger repercussions, Ndiaye responded: “I can’t predict the future, but I think you have to be treated fairly.
“That’s basically what I meant. Maybe we did the right thing, maybe not. But after everything we’ve achieved in this tournament, we just wanted to make sure everything was done fairly, and that’s perhaps why we reacted this way. We don’t know what the future holds.”
Despite what happened during the final, the government of Senegal said they will do everything ‘in our power’ to defend coach Thiaw and suspended players.
