’Tana Aiyejina
Super Eagles stars Anthony Okpotu and Osas Okoro have lamented their 4-0 defeat to Morocco in the final of the 2018 African Nations Championship at Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca on Sunday.
Goals from Walid El Karti, Ayoub El Kaabi and a double from Zakaria Hadraf ended 10-man Nigeria’s hopes of a maiden title.
The hosts opened the scoring just before the break, but midfielder Moses Eneji was sent off for a second bookable offence early in the second half and the Atlas Lions made it count scoring three more goals.
Okpotu scored two goals as Nigeria defied the odds to reach a first ever CHAN final but the Eagles posted a lacklustre performance against the rampaging hosts, who dominated for most parts of the encounter.
“I expected a very good game of football because both countries have very good teams but unfortunately we lost. That’s football,” Okpotu told our correspondent on Monday.
“The game was a big one, we had injuries and suspensions, and as you can see both teams played well, and the better side won.”
Nigeria right-back Osas Okoro said the team wanted to reward their supporters with a final victory over the Moroccans but lamented their inability to win a first CHAN title.
Okoro was one of the standout players in the CHAN squad.
The 27-year-old forward turned defender, who also represented Nigeria at the Rwanda 2016 CHAN, said, “We really wanted to win for every Nigerian out there but we are sorry about the end result. (There’s) a lot to learn from this and we thank you for your endless support.”
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