Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, has acknowledged that Morocco deserved their place in the 2025 AFCON final after the hosts edged Nigeria on penalties in Wednesday’s semi-final in Rabat.
After a goalless 90 minutes and extra-time, Morocco claimed victory 4-2 in the shootout.
Yassine Bounou was the standout for the Atlas Lions, saving two penalties, while Stanley Nwabali made one stop for Nigeria.
Morocco had the upper hand in creating chances throughout the match, whereas the Super Eagles managed only two attempts.
Reflecting on the game in his post-match press conference, Chelle said, “We missed a lot of things, the intensity, tactically, the movement, Morocco deserve this victory but our state of mind was good, we fought for every ball, it was not easy for us in this game but the players gave a good response.
“It is difficult because we lost on penalties again, it’s sad because we worked a lot during the training session but this is football and we have to accept it.”
On what went wrong for his side, who had impressed throughout the tournament, Chelle added, “We played with 4-4-2 diamond and when you play this formation you need to put high pressure because if you don’t do that you could struggle.
“In the first 15 minutes our pressing was good but after that every time we miss one metre, two metres and it was difficult for us because it was difficult for us in the high pressure, technically it was not the same again.”
