Five things to know about each of the Africa Cup of Nations finalists, Algeria, and Senegal ahead of Friday’s final at the Cairo International Stadium.
Algeria
- Captain and winger Riyad Mahrez from Manchester City is the only Premier League representative. The other England-based Algerian, midfielder Adlene Guedioura, is with second-tier Nottingham Forest.
- There are seven France-based players, including defenders Ramy Bensebaini and Mehdi Zeffane from Rennes, and three each from Italy and Saudi Arabia.
- Guedioura is the oldest player in the squad at 33 and Hicham Boudaoui, the only Algeria-based footballer, the youngest at 19.
- Algeria have appeared in two previous Cup of Nations finals, both against Nigeria. They were hammered 3-0 in Lagos in 1980 and won 1-0 in Algiers 10 years later.
- Many African national teams choose an animal to be part of their nickname and Algeria opted for the fox with the national team known as the Desert Foxes.
Senegal
- Captain and defender Cheikhou Kouyate (Crystal Palace), midfielder Idrissa Gueye (Everton) and star forward Sadio Mane (Liverpool) play in the Premier League.
- There are eight France-based players in the squad, including goalkeeper Abdoulaye Diallo and forwards Mbaye Niang and Ismaila Sarr from Rennes.
- Defender Saliou Ciss from French second-tier club Valenciennes is the oldest player at 30 and forward Krepin Diatta from Club Brugge the youngest at 20.
- This will be the second final appearance by Senegal after losing on penalties to Cameroon in 2002 having drawn 0-0 after extra time in Bamako.
- The national team are known as the Teranga Lions. Teranga means hospitality or welcoming generosity in Wolof, the most widely spoken language in the west African country.
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