RABAT, Morocco (AP) – Youssef El-Nesyri scored the winning penalty and Yassine “Bono” Bounou saved two goals as Morocco advanced to the African Cup of Nations final with a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Nigeria on Wednesday.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper Stanley Nwabari saved one goal, but beat Bono in the penalty shootout after the teams drew 0-0 in extra time in front of 65,458 mostly Moroccan supporters at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
“We played with 12 (players),” Morocco coach Walid Leglaghi said of the fans. There were also some Nigerian fans wearing green, struggling to make their voices heard.
The hosts have set up a title match against 2021 champions Senegal at the same stadium on Sunday. In the other semi-final they defeated Egypt 1-0. In Tangier.
Tickets for the decider are likely to be expensive as Morocco bid to win their first title since their only success in 1976.
Before Wednesday’s match, there were reports that semi-final tickets with a face value of 300-500 dirhams ($32-42) were being sold on the illegal market for more than 7,000 dirhams ($760).
Whenever a Nigerian player had the ball, it was easy to tell which team had possession due to the deafening chorus of whistles from the fans.
Calvin Bassey, who appeared alone on the field before the game, was the first to receive a warm welcome from the home fans. he answered with a big smile.
Morocco took advantage of their chances from the start, with Semi Ajayi producing a great block to deny Ismal Saibari. Brahim Dias tried to fire up an already excited crowd by firing a shot past the far post.
Bassey was booked for a tactical foul outside the penalty area and would have been suspended and ruled out of the final had the Super Eagles advanced. Instead, they will miss Saturday’s third-place match against unpopular Egypt in Casablanca.
Ademola Lookman had Nigeria’s only shot on target, but after some great team play, it went too close to Bono in the Moroccan goal. As it turned out, it was too little from the Super Eagles.
“We were a team that scored 14 goals. We had two shots, but only one hit the target. That’s saying something,” said Regulaghi.
The team had 16 shots and five on target, with Dias, Ayoub El Kaabi and Achraf Hakimi all enjoying their chances. Nigeria held on and took the match to penalties, but Bono saved from Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi to set up El-Nesyri for victory.
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Associated Press at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations
