North Africa rivals Tunisia and Morocco will meet in the African Cup of Nations final on Saturday after coming through their semifinals in vastly contrasting fashions on Wednesday.
Tunisia came from a goal down to force extra time against Nigeria before triumphing in a dramatic penalty shoot-out at the Rades Stadium while Morocco, champions in 1976, cruised past Mali 4-0 in Sousse.
The final will be the first in the history of the tournament to feature two north African sides.
Former double champions Nigeria, who were bidding to reach their seventh final, led through a Jay Jay Okocha penalty before rival skipper Khaled Badra also converted a penalty with seven minutes left to send their semifinal into extra-time.
They couldn’t be separated so it was left to the shoot-out to decide the winner and it was young Nigerian striker Osaze Odemwingie who cracked under the strain as his spot-kick was saved by Ali Boumnijel in the Tunisian goal. Badra, Silva dos Santos, Imed Mhedhebi, Selim Benachour and Karim Hagui, with the last kick, were all successful.
”The players know that it is the daily work that has got them this far,” said Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre as his side looked forward to a third final. Defeats in 1965 and 1996 mean they are still waiting for their first title.
”I feel very sad for Nigeria but there can only be one winner. We won the shoot-out and that is the law of sport.”
However, the win was a bittersweet success for Badra who picked up a second yellow card which will rule him out of Saturday’s final.
The match was also dogged by controversy, with the organisers playing the wrong national anthem for the Nigerian team which, ironically, was still jeered by the 60 000 Tunisian crowd. Bizarrely, the right tune was eventually found and played at the start of the second half, still to a background of catcalls and whistles.
But Nigeria silenced the hosts when, in the 67th minute, Nwankwo Kanu sprinted into the area and was brought down by Hagui.
Okocha scored into Boumnijel’s right hand corner but the referee ordered it to be retaken. Okocha held his nerve and found the net with his second attempt.
Tunisia were handed a lifeline 10 minutes from time when Oluwaseyi Olofinjana brought down Jaziri and Badra stepped up to score from the spot to bring his side level.
In Sousse, Morocco trounced Mali 4-0 with Youssef Mokhtari scoring once in each half, first after 14 minutes through a free kick and then in the 57th minute.
Youssef Hadji grabbed his third goal of the tournament after he stabbed home a fine through ball by Marouane Chamakh in the 80th minute before substitute Nabil Baha completed the rout in injury time.
”There are no excuses to offer,” said Mali coach Henri Stambouli.
”We lost heavily to a very good Moroccan team. After we had conceded two goals I told my players to attack, but Morocco soaked up all the pressure and hit us on the counter. That is football for you.”
Hadji, whose brother Moustapha plays for English Premiership side Aston Villa, said the 4-0 win would be a tonic for the team ahead of Saturday’s final.
”The whole team worked hard for this victory and winning by as many as four goals can only boost our confidence when we come up against Tunisia and their supporters on Saturday,” said Hadji.
Mali have the scant consolation of taking on Nigeria in the third-place playoff on Friday in Monastir. – Sapa-AFP