Tunisia to face Morocco in final

TUNISIA will play Morocco for the African Cup of Nations title on Saturday after two hard-fought semi-finals yesterday.

Tunisia beat Nigeria 5-3 on penalties, while Morocco defeated Mali 4-0.

Nigeria’s Osaze Odemwingie had his kick saved by Ali Boumnijel while skipper Khaled Badra, Silva dos Santos, Imed Mhedhebi, Selim Benachour and Karim Hagui, with the last kick, were all successful.

John Utaka, Joseph Yobo and Ifeanyi Udeze had been successful for the Super Eagles who were denied a chance to reach a seventh final.

Earlier, ice-cool captains Jay Jay Okocha and Khaled Badra had both converted second half penalties in the 67th and 82nd minutes respectively to set up the dramatic finish.

Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre sprung a surprise by leaving Paris Saint Germain playmaker Selim Benachour, in favour of Adel Chadli, while Anis Ayari was ruled out with a shoulder injury. His misfortune gave Jose Clayton a rare start.

Even before a ball was kicked, there was controversy, as the organisers played the wrong national anthem for the Nigerian team which, ironically, was still jeered by the 60,000 Tunisian crowd.

In an ill tempered affair, Oluwaseyi Olofinjana became the first player booked, for a foul on Zied Jaziri, as the Nigerians struggled to control midfield and keep a check on the lively Tunisian frontmen. Tunisian skipper Badra was then booked for a foul on Nwankwo Kanu while Okocha too found himself in Benin referee Coffi Codija’s book for a foul on Karim Hagui.

The second half began in bizarre circumstances when the organisers found the correct Nigerian national anthem and played it against another backdrop of catcalls and whistles.

On the field, Riadh Bouazizi had his name taken for a foul on Okocha as Tunisia continued to press in the early stages of the second period.

Tunisia piled on the pressure, but conceded a penalty in the 67th minute when 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.

However, Okocha held his nerve to find the net with his second attempt which he coolly slotted into the left hand corner for his third goal of the tournament.

Osaze Odemwingie was then booked as Tunisia continued to search for the equaliser and, ten minutes from the end, they were handed a lifeline when Olofinjana brought down Jaziri and Badra stepped up to score from the penalty spot to deservedly bring his side level.

Odemwingie then had a chance to settle it, but Boumnijel saved his side with a smart stop as the match headed for the shoot-out and a dramatic win for the Tunisians.

Striker Youssef Mokhtari netted twice as Morocco thrashed Mali 4-0 in the other semi-final. Mokhtari cracked home a free kick after 15 minutes and added another in the 58th minute from distance to kill the game off, leaving goals from Youssef Hadji and sub Nabil Baha in the last 10 minutes to turn the victory into a rout.

Morocco were on top right from the start, settling immediately into their neat passing game, establishing their authority in midfield and opening up the supply lines to Marouane Chammakh and Mokhtari up front.

The pressure paid off after a quarter of an hour when Mali conceded a free kick 20 metres out, Abdelkrim Kaissi stepped over the ball and Mokhtari smack his shot into the top left hand corner.

Mali came out more determined after the re-start, but a series of free kicks and corners all bounced off a defence well-marshalled by skipper Noureddine Naybet and the match swung Morocco’s way with their first attack of the second half.

Mokhtari picked up the ball on the right flank more than 20 metres out, glided towards the middle and unleashed a left-foot shot into the far corner that took Mali keeper Mahamadou Sidibe by surprise. The striker’s second of the night and third in the tournament decided the contest, but there was time for Morocco to hammer their superiority home.

They poached their third on the break after a flowing move down the left flank, with Chammakh collecting a flighted cross and poking the ball through for Hadji to slip between the defenders and turn it home.

Baha rifled the fourth into the roof of the net in the first minute of injury time to compound Mali’s misery.