Nigeria had played the greater part of the thrilling encounter plus extra-time with nine players, after Halimatu Ayinde and Rasheedat Ajibade were red carded in the 48th and 70th minutes, respectively.
Nigerian football fans have taken to social media to commend Nigeria’s gallant fight, and spirited performance insisting the Super Falcons “were robbed by the referee” and deserved to reach the final.
Ayomide Ojo wrote: “The girls gave their all,” adding: “If this Moroccan team were any good, they should have won playing against nine for 50 minutes.
SadeAdio “Final or no final, the Super Falcons are the best team in African women’s football.”
“It was an incredible run from the Super Falcons,” said Temi Dayo accompanying his comment with the fire emojis. “They are wonderful, they are massive, they are passionate, they are the best in Africa.”
Meanwhile, another set of supporters blamed Nigeria’s defeat on poor officiating and “biased officiating” from the African body CAF towards the host nation.
“It explains why Africans hardly go far in world tournaments,” stated Cartier Ishaya Paul, adding: “You always see some favours given to the host team for the huge amount they spend to host the competition but it’s a disgrace to see it become so obvious in the field of play… truthfully Nigeria was a better team tonight.”
Udeme Sato wrote: “For what just happened to the Nigeria team tonight [Monday], it’s obvious that African football will never get better till God comes”.
“This is painful… God punish Caf officials and that referee,” wrote Darius Dunamis, while Ejikeme Igwe opined: “Nigeria robbed! Zambia robbed! Caf is fixing her competitions.”
Akintade Ayobams praised the Super Falcons and compared them to their men’s team – the Super Eagles: “We were down to nine women,” started Ayobams adding: “In fact, these Nigerian girls should be called the Super Eagles while the boys should be called Falcons.”
He went further to explain his thinking behind the name change: “If the Super Eagles are down to 10 men, they start giving up.”
Ayatollah Ruhullah Muhammad Ali said: “Nigeria tried, despite all odds and managed to reach that level. Moroccans were bad players they were lucky,” while T Daniel Flames opined: “Nigeria women holding on with two players down is something rare you will see… they deserve to win but penalties cannot be predicted.”
Augustine Kapembwa wrapped up the debate: “African football is a disgrace, it’s like these matches are decided by Caf and referees, from the inception they know whom they want to win the competition, poor officiating and that’s why these teams won’t perform well at World Cup because everything is compromised.”
Super Falcons will face the Shepolopolo of Zambia in the third place match whilst the Atlas Lionesses will tackle South Africa in the final of the 2022 WAFCON.