Although the Super Eagles of Nigeria secured a comfortable 2-0 victory over Algeria in the AFCON 2025 semi-final, tempers flared between both sides at Stade de Marrakech last night, Soccernet.ng reports.
Birmingham City right-back Bright Osayi-Samuel had his best-ever performance in a Super Eagles jersey against Vladimir Petkovic's side, but in the 68th minute, he was involved in an altercation with Algerian attacker Anis Hadj Moussa.
The 28-year-old defender attempted to shoulder the ball out of the play by preventing Moussa from touching the ball, but the Feyenoord winger, out of frustration, shoved Osayi-Samuel over.
To air his displeasure, Osayi-Samuel stepped up to confront the Algerian winger, who, in return, shoved his throat before Senegalese referee Issa Sy stepped in to issue a yellow card to Anis Moussa.
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Super Eagles: Osayi-Samuel clarifies altercation with Moussa
The altercation last night wasn't the first in Osayi's career. During his time at Fenerbahce, a fan came to attack him during the Istanbul derby, and the right-back put the fan in his place, even earning a mural on the streets of Istanbul for the act.
While Moussa was in the wrong, Osayi-Samuel, at the end of the game, admitted he overreacted to the situation during his time on the pitch before he was taken off in the 90th minute.
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“I was agitated because he punched my face. He hit my face, you know, and I overreacted,” the former QPR full-back told Soccernet.ng after the game.
“We were winning 2-0, so really and truly I shouldn't have done it, I should have just ignored it, but you know I overreacted. It's football, you know.
The three-time AFCON winner will play against Morocco in the semi-final, and Osayi revealed Eric Chelle's men are looking to avoid a scenario where they'll get knocked out by the host nation, again.
“It's a big opportunity for me, you know. These are games that I dream of, and for me, you know, I want to win the AFCON, so, you know, there are opportunities I have to take.
“I think today I did that. I think the team did that, and yeah, each game as it comes, Morocco will be a different team, you know.
“They have the fans with them, so it will be difficult, but we believe in ourselves. I think the way we're playing, you know, they [Algeria] didn't have a shot on target today.
“We just keep believing in ourselves and keep believing what the manager wants us to do, and I think we'll beat Morocco too,” Bright Osayi-Samuel concluded.
The Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah will host the AFCON 2025 semi-final game between Nigeria and Morocco on Wednesday. Kick-off is slated for 9:00 PM WAT.
