Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle claimed that his side studied extensively for penalties and chose the finest available kickers for the shootout, following Nigeria’s penalty shootout defeat to hosts Morocco in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations semi-final.
After a goalless 90 minutes and extra time, Nigeria forced penalties against the hosts but was defeated 4-2 due to two weak kicks.
Morocco’s Neil El Aynaoui scored first, followed by Nigeria’s Paul Onuachu’s cool finish. The Super Eagles had a brief lead when Hamza Igamane’s shot was excellently saved by Stanley Nwabali, but Samuel Chukwueze, who was introduced late in extra time, failed to capitalize as his poorly executed spot-kick was blocked.
After Ben Seghir regained Morocco’s advantage, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru equalized for Nigeria before Achraf Hakimi put the hosts ahead once more.
Bruno Onyemaechi was then denied by Yassine Bounou with Nigeria’s fourth kick, allowing Youssef En-Nesyri to seal the victory and send the Atlas Lions to their first AFCON final since 2004, as they continue their quest for a continental trophy after 50 years.
Despite his team’s unexpected struggles in the semi-finals, Chelle defended his players’ performances in regulation and the shootout.
“Normally, we play a 4-4-2 diamond, and because I felt it was difficult to apply high pressure, I put Moses in midfield and Chukwueze on for the penalty situation,” Chelle said during his post-match interview.
“We worked in every training session on penalties, and the players who took the kicks were the best performers over the past month. That is why we selected them.”
The loss ended the Super Eagles’ hopes of reaching a second consecutive AFCON final, as well as their pursuit of a fourth continental title.
“The match was never easy, but the players showed a strong mental response and fought for every ball. Losing on penalties is very painful. It’s difficult because we worked hard throughout the entire tournament, but that’s football. We must continue working,” Chelle added.
“We played this match with high pressing because if you don’t press, you leave spaces and the situation becomes very complicated. From a technical point of view, we were not at the same level we showed in other matches. I don’t want to say the reason was fatigue, but the truth is that we lacked movement and power.”
Nigeria last won the AFCON in 2013, and after eight third-place results in the continental tournament, they will now focus on another third-place play-off against Egypt in Casablanca on Saturday.
