BY OUR SPORTS CORRESPONDENT IN MARRAKESH
VICTOR OSIMHEN proved exactly why he is the King of African football last night, dismantling Algeria to fire Nigeria into the AFCON semi-finals.
The Galatasaray goal-machine was the star of the show in Marrakesh, scoring a trademark header and turning provider as the Super Eagles cruised to a 2-0 win over the shell-shocked Desert Foxes.
After a cagey first half where Nigeria dominated but couldn’t find the breakthrough—even seeing a Calvin Bassey effort cleared off the line in a controversial VAR call—the game exploded into life just two minutes after the restart.
It was that man Osimhen who broke the deadlock.
Rising like a skyscraper in the Moroccan heat, he met Bruno Onyemaechi’s pinpoint cross with a thumping downward header that left Algeria keeper Luca Zidane grasping at thin air. It was his fourth goal of the tournament, and the 32,000-strong crowd knew they were witnessing a master at the peak of his powers.
But the 2023 African Player of the Year wasn’t finished.
Ten minutes later, he turned architect.
After Alex Iwobi sliced open the Algerian defense with a sublime outside-of-the-boot pass, Osimhen raced clear.
Instead of going for personal glory, the talisman showed his class by squaring the ball to strike partner Akor Adams.
The Sevilla man kept his cool, dancing around Zidane and slotting into an empty net to spark wild celebrations on the Nigerian bench.
Algeria, led by a fading Riyad Mahrez, looked a shadow of the team that won the title in 2019.
They failed to register a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes as Nigeria’s backline, marshaled by William Troost-Ekong and Calvin Bassey, remained impenetrable.
By the time Mahrez was hauled off on the hour mark—likely his final act in an AFCON shirt—the writing was on the wall.
The Desert Foxes were spent, and the Super Eagles were soaring.
Nigeria now face a mouth-watering semi-final clash against hosts Morocco in Rabat this Wednesday. On this form, and with a star like Osimhen leading the line, the Super Eagles will take some stopping as they hunt for their fourth continental crown.
NIGERIA (4-3-1-2): Nwabali; Osayi-Samuel (Ogbu 90), Ajayi, Bassey, Onyemaechi; Onyeka (Simon 67), Ndidi (Onyedika 67), Iwobi; Lookman (Dele-Bashiru 87); Osimhen, Adams (Awaziem 87).
