Nigeria vs Morocco: Stanley Nwabali shares pain and frustration in two powerful words after Super Eagles semi-final defeat

Super Eagles goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali shared two words conveying pain, anger and disappointment after Nigeria’s AFCON semi-final exit at the hands of hosts, Morocco.

The three-time winners were stopped in their tracks on the journey to number four by a well-drilled Atlas Lions team, which managed to keep Nigeria’s typically rampant attack at bay. 

However, thanks to the performance of the likes of Nwabali and Bassey, Walid Regragui’s side also failed to produce a goal after regulation and extra time, dumping out the Super Eagles via penalty shootouts

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About an hour after the defeat, Nwabali took to multiple social media platforms, where he shared a short but powerful post, “Not again,” accompanied by appropriate sad emojis.

Nwabali’s reaction was palpable and is particularly gut-wrenching in the context of Nigerian football. 

Nwabali did his bit, as he did weeks ago against the Democratic Republic of Congo, saving a penalty in a shootout the Super Eagles lost. The Chippa United man made the first save of the two goalkeepers against Morocco, but his teammate failed to utilise the advantage.

Against DR Congo, in the defeat which ensured Nigeria’s absence from next year’s World Cup, Nwabali saved two spotkicks during the shootouts; still, Nigeria lost. 

Hence, Nwabali’s short caption tells the painful story of two penalty shootout defeats in close proximity, which brought global and continental disappointment. It also tells the story of consecutive eliminations at the hands of the host country in consecutive AFCONs, after the Ivory Coast’s AFCON 2023 triumph over Nigeria, with Nwabali in goal.