Super Eagles defender, Bright Osayi-Samuel, has expressed deep disappointment over Nigeria’s penalty shootout loss to Morocco in the African Cup of Nations semi-final on Wednesday.
He described the exit as painful but praised his teammates’ resilience against the tournament hosts.
“It’s painful. Of course, we wanted to get to the final, but I’m proud of the team, we took them to the penalties,.
“All odds against us, but we tried, we pushed, and I wish Morocco all the best,” he told Super Sports Football after the match.
He noted a sense of pride within the camp, saying that head coach Eric Chelle’s immediate message was one of unity and commendation for the team’s effort.
“He was proud of us, very proud of us. You know, we’re a family, and you can see that we pushed.
“Obviously disappointed because we wanted to bring this back home for our fans, and so many people supporting us and it’s painful. But yeah, look forward to the next game now,” he said.
Reflecting on the team’s overall performance throughout the tournament, Osayi-Samuel lauded their style of play and tactical growth under Chelle’s management.
“We played well. You know, I think the style of play, the way we played was phenomenal, you know, controlling teams. Second half, we controlled the game.
“We had Morocco on the back foot at their stadium. So you can see that we’re a work in progress, and that’s all due to the manager. Like I said, it’s painful that we couldn’t get to the final, but I’m proud of the team,” he said.
While the pain of the loss lingered, Osayi-Samuel quickly shifted focus to the upcoming third-place play-off against Egypt, expressing confidence in the team’s ability to bounce back quickly due to the presence of experienced players.
“I mean, there’s a lot of players with experience who have lost in big games, and they’ve had to bounce back. So I think there are a lot of players in the team who have the experience of having to bounce back in one or two days. I don’t think that will really affect us.
“Of course, today will be painful, but we have to bounce back very quickly because we still have the game to obviously try and come third. And Egypt are a good team. So yeah, I think we have the experience to get back up as soon as possible,” he said.
In a separate interview with AdemolaVictorTv, Osayi-Samuel voiced criticism of the officiating during the crucial match.
While insisting it wasn’t the reason for the defeat, he expressed frustration with the standard of refereeing.
“One thing I would say is that the referee is appalling. Not saying that is the reason why we lost, but he kept making very wrong decisions.
“It is really painful to see that we have referees like that in a big game like today,” he added.
Nigeria’s journey to the AFCON final was cut short by tournament hosts Morocco, who triumphed 4-2 on penalties following a hard-fought 0-0 draw after extra time.
Nigeria will face Egypt on Saturday, seeking to end their tournament on a high note with a bronze medal.
Watch Osayi-Samuel’s video below:
AFCON 2025: Osayi-Samuel Laments Semi-Final Exit, Slams ‘Appalling’ Referee
Credit: X| SSFootball, AdemolaVictorTv pic.twitter.com/DMnv8SXqcM
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