Claude Le Roy, the coach who won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1988, has revealed how Nigeria helped Senegal beat Morocco in the final of the 2025 edition of the tournament.
He maintained that the Atlas Lions were the best team of the last edition of the tournament overall.
He, however, said that Senegal were better in the final because the Moroccans were exhausted after Nigeria held them for more than two hours in the semifinals.
He pointed out that semifinal match against Nigeria made them really tired, which affected their performance when they played against Senegal in the 2025 AFCON final.
The Super Eagles and Atlas Lions’ semifinal game went beyond two hours and ended in a penalty shootout.
The home team won 4-2 after Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi had their penalty kicks saved.
As they moved on to the semifinals, Nigeria were probably the best team in the tournament. They won all five of their games and scored the most goals in the competition, a total of fourteen.
Both Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen were involved in thirteen of those goals.
The Super Eagles played a strong defensive game and made Morocco struggle, but they did not generate many chances In the attack.
Their main threats, Osimhen and Lookman, were well contained by the Moroccan team.
Le Roy said that the tough semifinal match against the Super Eagles made Morocco feel slower and less focused compared to how they had performed in the rest of the tournament.
When asked to name the best team at the recently finished AFCON, Le Roy said on Canal+, “The best team of this Afcon overall was Morocco, and the best team of the final was Senegal.
“This win in the end shows that a better job was done. Maybe Morocco tried really hard in the semifinal match against a strong Nigeria team, especially during the penalty shootout, which took about two hours.
“That affected them a bit, but in the end, Senegal played better [in the final].”
During the competition, Morocco showed great skill and performed well.
Nigeria beat Egypt 4-2 in the penalty shootout to get third place. Their goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, was the key player for the Super Eagles. He saved important penalties from Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush.