There was a vibration on my wrist as my Apple Watch informed me that the noise had reached a decibel level of 100, which I was warned would cause permanent hearing damage after just 10 minutes.
So due to the ear-splitting and headache-inducing sounds of 66,256 whistles, screams and roars, I could not fully trust my hearing when the referee announced it would be a penalty to Morocco. Surely not?
Luckily there were other ways to verify my doubts, such as the hard shudder that came from my left-hand side as the journalist next to me banged the media desk as if he was trying to swat a fly.
The bloke was clearly Senegalese and that was that, we never saw him again. He got up and left. ‘Safe travels, mate,’ I murmured to myself, questioning his future whereabouts and the status of his bruised fist.
To the other side were two Moroccan chaps who embraced like family members who had not seen each other in years. They were jumping for joy as players on the pitch performed knee-slides rejoicing in the penalty being awarded.
It was like a marathon runner celebrating with 100metres to go only to fall over, break their leg and not make the finish line. Awkward.
Lewis Steele enjoyed the most overwhelming and unforgettable night of his career at the AFCON final
Senegal lifted the trophy after beating hosts Morocco 1-0 – but the scoreline doesn’t convey the drama on and off the pitch
Below me were scrapping journalists, a photographer being grappled to the ground by stewards and, over to the far left-hand side, riot police all charging towards the Senegal fans behind the goal. I didn’t know where to look.
And then there was Senegal’s manager Pape Thiaw charging on to the pitch and ordering his players to leave, some going down the tunnel. I have good eyes but they failed me as everyone just blended into a collective unit of rage, all up for a fight.
To say this was the most overwhelming and unforgettable night of my career covering football around the world was an understatement bigger than saying VAR is a mess.
It was bonkers and anxiety-provoking but also, we can luckily say in hindsight with no one injured, b****y good fun.
And this was only the start.
All of the above anecdotes happened within about 15 seconds of each other. It was like the Royal Rumble, where 30 wrestlers are all in the ring at once trying to be the last man standing.
WWE, however, is staged. AFCON is not, despite some Senegalese conspiracists claiming the referee had been paid off.
And although Morocco boss Walid Regragui described the final as ‘like a Hitchcockian script’, no one could have dreamt up these storylines. Not Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick or any modern film-making great.
No filmmaker could have dreamed up a scenario as extraordinarily charged as what unfolded after the late penalty was awarded
In another cinematic twist, Braham Diaz, after winning the penalty, was unable to see it home
During the pause for Senegal’s protest, fans spilled on to the pitch and fought with security staff
If this blockbuster was on the big screen, mind, it would get bad reviews for being too unrealistic.
To recap for those who missed it: Senegal had a reasonable goal chalked off in stoppage time at 0-0, Morocco went up the other end and won a dubious penalty, Senegal players stormed off the pitch, fans threatened to invade, Brahim Diaz took the penalty in minute 90+24 but Edouard Mendy saved, Senegal won in extra time, fights ensued and managers were chased out of their press conferences.
Oh, and Moroccan ball boys were trying to steal the towel of goalkeeper Mendy, once of Chelsea, as happened in the semi-final win over Nigeria. The substitute keeper ended up grappling with them. Are we really at the point where ball boys and girls have to be neutral?
Before all that came an entertaining and tense final. Let us have a period of silence at this juncture for 850 carefully-considered words that were set to make these pages before they had to be scrapped for multiple rushed rewrites cobbled together as if on auto-pilot while my brain felt like a stun grenade had been tossed my way.
In the time it took to bin that original piece and bash out a new one, the stadium emptied and nearly 70,000 partisan fans all ran for the exits reeling with depression and fury.
Funnily enough, the press box also seemed to lose 90 per cent of its inhabitants. Strange, isn’t it, how these journalists did not want to stay to cover the post-match scenes. After all, Sadio Mane and Co lifting the trophy will be one of the most heartwarming scenes of the year.
One could forgive a few slips of the mask in the neutral area of the media zone, given the sense of occasion, but the ugly scenes of chanting, dancing and fighting were a disgrace.
I used the empty seats left behind by locals as an excuse to take a better vantage for the trophy-lift and went down about 50 rows. By this point, I was numb to the fighting going on around me. Fists were thrown while the Senegal fans, calm by now, were dancing from left to right.
Next, I decided to head down to the press conference room, though I was not confident of understanding much of the dialect.
Ball boys will surely have to be less partisan when the World Cup comes to Morocco in 2030
You did not need to be bilingual to translate the scenes that greeted me at the end of a long walk down six flights of stairs that were shaking and felt like they were about to give way (I had only just caught my breathe from walking up them before the game).
As if a fire alarm had sounded in the room, Moroccan journalists were emptying out at speed. It later transpired that they were kicking off at Thiaw, whose press conference was cancelled for security concerns.
His opposite number Regragui was also hounded by local media and asked to resign. Well, fair enough for not beating around the bush I suppose. They were all going to write it, so why not say it to his face?
The poor chap said he had tossed away the opportunity of a lifetime to win, and added: ‘The image we’ve given of Africa is shameful. A coach who asks his players to leave the field… what Pape did does not honour Africa. He was not classy, but he is a champion so he can say whatever he wants.’
He was partially correct, it did shame the tournament which up until that point had been the best AFCON of all time, in terms of viewing figures, attendances and revenues. Channel 4’s sister E4 had not broadcast such drama since the glory days of Big Brother in the early 2000s.
Their viewing figures on Sunday were through the roof, though exact numbers were not disclosed when asked.
But it is wrong of Regragui to say it shamed Africa. If a fight broke out at England versus Germany, say, you would not use it as a stick to tarnish the whole of Europe.
Saying that, though, I had one thought bugging me as I boarded my flight from Rabat to Marseille on Monday evening – my next assignment is Liverpool’s trip to southern France which, even if it ends 6-6 and has five red cards, will not be as box-office as this AFCON final.
The worry was this: is Morocco really ready to host the 2030 World Cup? The counter-argument would be that these ugly scenes could have happened anywhere. Senegal’s actions were the most troubling and were sparked by shambolic officiating that would have left FIFA president Gianni Infantino wincing.
Gianni Infantino was in the stadium to award the trophies but will have had his head in his hands at some points
But leaving the stadium was the episode that sparked my concern.
To be fair, I could have done with a stroll and a bit of fresh air to clear my head after the drama that had me looking like a shellshocked soldier returning from war.
Just preferably not a walk that Apple Maps informed me would be two hours in the teeming rain – and certainly not one uphill along the hard shoulder of a six-lane motorway amid a soundtrack of beeping horns and police sirens.
This job takes you to some bucket-list destinations but some of it is not as glamorous as it may seem from the outside and that usually includes leaving stadiums.
There is a metro system in Rabat but the queues to get on were miles long.
Uber does not exist here and the alternative app, cash-only InDrive, is full of uninsured drivers, so I worried for fans in 2030 as I took shelter under a bridge to flag down a cab (or at that point, anyone with wheels) to take me back into downtown Rabat.
The stadiums are plush, especially the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium that hosted Sunday’s final, and the 115,000-capacity Hassan II Stadium in Casablanca which should open in 2028 and is in contention to host the final along with Camp Nou, the Bernabeu and Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.
The pitches here are the best in Africa, too, while the people are friendly and chatty souls. Getting around the country itself is affordable, safe and reliable. There is a good rail network that connects major cities.
The Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium has been built at great expense but Morocco will need to work on improving the infrastructure to a similar standard
But the in-city infrastructure around getting to the stadiums is a problem that must be addressed in the next four years.
When Daily Mail Sport was in Agadir for Egypt’s group stage and Mohamed Salah-watch, it was another nightmare leaving the stadium. Though on that occasion we lucked out by talking our way on to a free shuttle bus taking AFCON staffers back into town.
The Stade Adrar there is likely to be another host venue with grounds also in Tangier, Marrakech and Fes.
Morocco could be solid co-hosts alongside Spain and Portugal in 2030 and North Africa deserves its chance to have the global game on its turf – but several improvements must be made by then.
Anyway, when I finally convinced a kind chap to take me to my hotel for double the going rate, I had time to dry off, let my heart rate calm down and collect my thoughts on the truly bonkers experience I had just been a part of.
There was an album of emotions.
Anger at referees ruining the beautiful game. Stress at having to make sense of it all in about five minutes to make newspaper deadlines with no replays or good internet to check my facts.
There was genuine, deep panic that safety was about to be compromised if the Senegal fans had breached the wall of riot police. Anxiety that emotionally-charged fans outside the ground might be in the mood for fighting anyone.
There was no shortage of emotions on the pitch between both teams – from soaring highs to crushing lows
Sadness for Diaz but simultaneously relief at the justice served. Then quiet joy for Senegal’s players and fans mixed with annoyance at how they had acted in the lead-up to it.
The drama meant so many storylines were lost or undersold, such as Mane winning his second AFCON in his final appearance in this tournament. The former Liverpool man, now 33 and playing in Saudi Arabia, is undoubtedly one of the all-time African greats – and up there as one of the best of his generation worldwide.
And what of Infantino? He said ‘the ugly scenes must be condemned and never repeated’ but what precedent has been set here? If you don’t like the decision, don’t play on?
Thiaw, it is understood, is in line for a lengthy ban for ordering his team off the pitch and that must act as a deterrent for future episodes in this World Cup year, especially if he is banned from the touchline for a game or two in North America.
CAF are also under fire as several nations complained hosts Morocco received preferential treatment throughout AFCON. They cited refereeing decisions, also claiming other teams did not have access to good facilities and security in the tournament, and that Senegal only had a tiny amount of tickets allocated to them.
But whatever happens in the aftermath, no one present will ever forget that night in Rabat.
It was ugly, tense and worrying but now we know the consequences were not as bad as I once feared, I can safely say it was the most thrilling sporting contest I’ve ever experienced.
But just like Mane, who slept on the plane to begin partying in Senegal, and Diaz who is overcome with regret at his penalty miss, I could also do with an elongated lie down in a darkened room.
