01/14/26 05:47:00
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01/14 17:46 CST Morocco beats Nigeria on penalties to reach Africa Cup of
Nations final vs. Senegal
Morocco beats Nigeria on penalties to reach Africa Cup of Nations final vs.
Senegal
By CIARAN FAHEY
AP Sports Writer
RABAT, Morocco (AP) --- Youssef El-Nesyri scored the winning penalty and
Yassine "Bono" Bounou saved two as Morocco advanced to the Africa Cup of
Nations final with a 4-2 win on penalties over Nigeria on Wednesday.
Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali saved one but was bettered by Bono in the
shootout after the teams drew 0-0 with extra time in front of 65,458 mostly
Morocco fans in Rabat's Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
The host nation set up a title match in the same stadium Sunday with 2021
champion Senegal, which defeated Egypt 1-0 the other semifinal earlier in
Tangier.
Morocco is bidding for its first title since its only success in 1976 and
tickets for the decider are likely to command steep prices.
There were reports before Wednesday's game that tickets with a face value of
300-500 dirhams ($32-42) for the semifinal were going for as much as 7,000
dirhams ($760) or more on the black market.
It was easy to tell which team was in possession from the deafening chorus of
fans' whistles any time a Nigeria player had the ball.
Calvin Bassey was the first to receive the home fans' piercing welcome when he
took a walk out alone on the field before the match. He responded with a huge
smile.
Morocco went close with the early chances with Semi Ajayi producing a brilliant
block to stop Ismael Saibari. Brahim Daz whipped a shot past the far post and
then tried riling up the already riled crowd.
Bassey was booked for a tactical foul outside the penalty box, which would have
ruled him out of the final with a suspension if the Super Eagles made it.
Instead he'll miss the unpopular third-place decider against Egypt in
Casablanca on Saturday.
Ademola Lookman had Nigeria's only shot on target --- too close to Bono in the
Morocco goal after some fine team play. Ultimately, there was too little of
that from the Super Eagles.
Morocco had 16 shots, five on target, with Daz, Ayoub El Kaabi and Achraf
Hakimi all enjoying good chances. Nigeria held on to get the game to the
shootout, where Bono saved from Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi to set up
El-Nesyri for the winner.
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AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations
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