Olushola Omogbehin
After a keenly contested semi-final clash at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, in the ongoing 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Wednesday, the Super Eagles of Nigeria was defeated by Morocco on penalty ground.
The inability of the Eagles to create enough chances to score and failure to make use of the few opportunity they had, led to a 4-2 victory for Morocco after penalty shoot out in the semi-final.
The match could not be decided after 90 minutes due to the absence of goal as Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi’s spot-kicks were saved by Yassine Bounou.
Following the goalless draw after extra time of 120 minutes, penaltie became the deciding factor and Nigeria lost to Morocco 4-2.
Meanwhile, the Ghanaian referee, Daniel Laryea was criticised for biased and poor officiating during the match.
Leading to the criticism, was the fact that Eagles committed 29 fouls with two yellow cards but the Morocco’s 19 fouls were without any caution by the referee.
Nigeria will now take on the Pharaohs of Egypt in the third-place while Morocco will face Senegal in the final.
