I won the Champions League with Chelsea but winning another cup was 10x better

Earning the title of Champions League winner would be the crowning achievement for most players, but not for Edouard Mendy . The former Chelsea goalkeeper, 34, kept a clean sheet in the 2021 European final that saw the Blues defeat Manchester City 1-0 to lift the iconic trophy for a second time. The honour was Mendy's first top-flight accolade, having previously lifted the Ligue 2 title with Reims. The Al-Ahli stopper tasted silverware eight months later when playing a key role in Senegal's first triumph of the Africa Cup of Nations, defeating Mohamed Salah's Egypt on penalties. Both achievements hold considerable weight in Mendy's stellar career, but it's his international triumph that ranks above all. "[Winning Afcon] was the best moment of my football career: it was 10 times better [than the Champions League]," Mendy told the Guardian . "I can compare now because I’ve also won the Asian Champions League twice. To win for your club is something really incredible. But you cannot compare with winning for your country, especially when they have never won anything before. "It happens only once in your life, so being part of the team that made history was amazing." Mendy believed he'd become a two-time AFCON champion last year after Senegal defeated Morocco 1-0 in extra time, but that didn't turn out to be the case. The North African nation were awarded a 3-0 victory earlier this year after the Confederation of African Football ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match when leaving the pitch in protest of a disallowed goal and a VAR decision. FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page A preliminary hearing for Senegal's appeal is set to be heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland next month. A result in the former champions' favour means Mendy - who retired from national team duty earlier this month - would have ended his international career with a trophy. Mendy admitted that the new Senegal manager, Patrick Vieira, attempted to persuade him to reverse his decision, but to no avail. The goalkeeper explained: "He [Vieira] is a legend so to have the chance to work with him was really something that came into my mind. "But at the end of the call I asked for some time to really think about everything. A couple of days later I called him and explained that I wanted to stick to my decision. I started thinking about it after the Afcon and I just came to the conclusion that it was my time to say stop."