Legendary Super Falcons striker, Mercy Akide, has revealed that she was already anxious when Samuel Chukwueze stepped up to take his penalty during the AFCON 2025 semi-final against Morocco in Rabat.
After a goalless 90 minutes and extra-time, the Super Eagles’ clash with the Atlas Lions was decided by a penalty shootout, with Morocco emerging 4-2 winners.
Chukwueze was brought on deep into the second half of extra-time for Frank Onyeka, primarily to take penalties.
With the shootout tied at 1-1, Hamza Igamane saw his effort denied by Stanley Nwabali.
Chukwueze then had the chance to put Nigeria ahead 2-1, but his weak shot was comfortably saved by Yassine Bounou, giving the Moroccans the upper hand.
Reflecting on Chukwueze’s miss during the ATHLST podcast, Akide said, “Before he took the kick, I saw him. He is a jokester, maybe because of his age. If you look at their posts on social media, he is a jokester. In that kind of situation, even though he’s been taking penalties in practice and feels he can take one, the crowd was too big for him, and you could already see it on him when he was about to take the penalty.
“Penalty takers don’t just walk like that, shift to one side, and simply pass the ball. But I’m going to say it’s nerve-wracking to take a penalty. Everybody thinks you can just kick it in; it’s not as easy as that.
“They should not blame him. This is how the game should have played out, one team will always win. We should not crucify him; we should leave him alone. He’s not the only one who missed; the defender Bruno also missed.
“You could see it from his body movement while he was walking. I told my husband, Colin, I was scared. He showed the goalkeeper where his penalty was going. He could have put it on the opposite side. When he went for the final contact, he didn’t put his head up.
“It was not an easy ball to save, but the goalkeeper was as good as our own goalkeeper. They shouldn’t discourage him; he’s a young guy.”
