The Africa AFCON hosts Morocco, who have given themselves a huge chance of winning their first title in 50 years after edging the Super Eagles of Nigeria 4-2 on penalties after a very close goalless draw in regular time.
Both teams were short of chances; they failed to find rhythm because of the physical approach from both teams. Brahim Díaz came closeto Morocco, but he dragged his effort wide, while Ademola Lookman drew a very good save from the Moroccan goalkeeper.
The Atlas Lions got an opportunity again through Adam Masina and Díaz, but they couldn’t score while Achraf Hakimi’s free-kick hit the crossbar. Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was forced into a terrific save at the end of the half to stop Ismael Saibari.
After the interval, the nerves got the better of the players, and the game continued in the same vein. Raphael Onyedika and Abde Ezzalzouli were a bit close to scoring, but in the end, neither team was able to score in normal time.
There was more urgency in the extra time as Nayef Aguerd went close to scoring when his shot hit the post from a corner, and Hamza Igamane made Nwabali work for his save while Nigeria hardly threatened.
The match ended up being settled from the penalty spot. Once the two sides had staged their early misses, Yassine Bounou saved Bruno Onyemaechi’s shot, and that gave Youssef En-Nesyri the chance to convert the winning goal and send Morocco into the final against Senegal on Sunday.
