Bruno Metsu’s men put up a strong display against the Indomitable Lions, but surrendered the trophy to the defending champions 3-2 on penalties after scores stood 0-0 after extra time.
But it’s not the game – which is the Lions of Teranga’s best finish in the tournament’s history - that Fadiga feels is his most memorable.
It’s actually the 2-1 semi-final defeat of Nigeria at the Stade Modibo Keïta, Bamako in the same competition, that delivered the final slot to Senegal, with the 42-year-old admitting they came into the game as underdogs.
In a Q&A with Cafonline.com, Fadiga said: “It was the victory over Nigeria (2-1 after extra time) at the semi-finals of the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations in Mali. Midway into the first half, we were a man down when Pape Sarr was sent off.
“At that time Nigeria were highly rated and we beat them to reach the final. The other game I have fond memories of is the quarter-final clash again against Nigeria in 2000 in Lagos.
“It was my first AFCON quarter final and I scored after seven minutes. With five minutes remaining, I saw most of the fans leaving the stadium, and I thought we had almost qualified as we were leading 1-0. Then Julius Aghahowa pops up and scored two wonderful goals to cut short our dreams.”
