Egypt star Mohamed Salah's promising Afcon came to a disappointing end as he missed his penalty during the shootout as Nigeria clinched the third-place playoff on Saturday.
Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali was the hero for Nigeria as the Super Eagles prevailed 4–2 in the penalty shootout in Casablanca.
Nwabali produced two superb saves to deny Pharaohs stars Salah and forward Omar Marmoush to hand the Super Eagles victory in the match that went straight to penalties after a goalless draw in regulation time.
Nigeria made a nervous start to the shootout as Fisayo Dele-Bashiru saw his effort saved by Egypt goalkeeper Ouba Shobeir. But Nwabali handed his team the initiative with consecutive saves against Salah and Marmoush.
Successful penalties from Akor Adams, Moses Simon, Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman sealed victory for Nigeria.
Earlier, Nigeria had the ball in Egypt’s net twice but the efforts from Paul Onauchu in the first half and Lookman after the break were ruled out.
Onauchu’s effort was disallowed because he had elbowed Egypt defender Hamdi Fathy in the face, which was confirmed after a VAR check.
Lookman, who come on as a halftime substitute, had his effort chalked off for offside.
Nigeria have now finished third at nine Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Despite the result, Egypt will not feel too disheartened. Earlier, coach Hossam Hassan had said the Afcon had been a good experience ahead of the World Cup later this year in North America.
"It has been very good preparation for us, we've tried several systems of play throughout the tournament and played against different types of opponents," Hassan had said.
"We came close to the final but that's football. Overall, I'm satisfied with all that happened and what we achieved. We have a good team. We were away from home and did not have a lot of supporters."
Egypt are placed in Group G at the World Cup, taking on Belgium first up in Seattle on June 15, New Zealand in Vancouver on June 21 and Iran on June 26 back in Seattle.
One of the biggest aspects of the Egyptian side is that almost their entire squad plays together in the Egyptian league, unlike the other Afcon semi-finalists whose players are scattered across the top clubs in Europe and even Saudi Arabia.
"Players based in Europe gain better tactical acumen and become physically much stronger, and we need that added value to make us better," he said.
