Rise of a Football God-Chapter 393: AFCON final; Morocco vs Nigeria [3]
"CAPTAIN FANTASTIC!" The commentators raved.
"What a shot!"
"Clutch player!"
"Arguably the best player of this Moroccan squad!"
"He's led Morocco all the way from the group stage as the captain to this stage. And even at this stage, Achraf Hakimi is showing the world that he is yet to be tired, not until he wins the trophy that he so much covets!"
"What a player!"
While the commentators raved, Achraf Hakimi charged towards the corner flag amid roars of celebrations from fans of the Atlas Lions.
As soon as he got to the corner flag, feeling mischievous, he pointed his finger at the fans and did the machine gun celebration, moving his hand as he mimicked the movement of a shooting machine gun.
In response to his celebration, the fans roared.
His teammates soon swarmed him, celebrating exuberantly.
28 minutes, 0-1 to Nigeria.
35 minutes, 1-1.
Game on!
After that goal, the atmosphere of this game changed.
Both sets of fans knew that this game was going to be a war, a war between 2 formidable armies, but still, Morocco's equalizing goal truly lit a fuse.
BZZZZ!
The atmosphere in this stadium hit a fever pitch, becoming extremely electric as the momentum became even between both sides, resulting in even more chaos in this game.
And then…
FWEEEE!
The referee's whistle was the signal to continue the game.
Immediately, the players of both countries jumped into the fray again, restarting an intense game of end-to-end football.
Led by Achraf Hakimi from the back who kept on making overlapping runs, bombing into Nigeria's half frequently with the ball, the Moroccan captain led the charge for his teammates, dictating the tempo of the game for his team.
Of course, he had a supporting cast of elite players.
Almost all of Morocco's attack came from the right-hand side.
This game, Brahim Diaz was electric.
This was the final of the AFCON tournament. After today, the tournament was over, there was no more games to play.
And so, the players approached this game with a mentality to leave everything out there on the pitch. Brahim Diaz was a perfect example of this mentality as he played like his life was on the line.
He played like there was no tomorrow, like the world was ending tomorrow.
He was bold and fearless, recklessly running at the Nigerian defense time and again as soon as the ball got to him, causing chaos and creating chances for the Moroccan national team.
On the other side, Ola Aina suffered the brunt of Brahim Diaz's genius, burned time and again as the game progressed.
Brahim Diaz's partner in crime, Morocco's striker was also doing his job.
Up against the duo of Calvin Bassey and William Troost-Ekong in central defense though, he struggled to make much of an impact.
But in this game, the role of all these players was not the hardest though.
The Moroccan player with the hardest duty was Sofyan Amrabat. The Manchester United midfielder was tasked to man-mark the greatest threat of the Nigerian squad, Samuel Moses.
In this game, despite not being the captain of the Super Eagles, Sam was the Achraf Hakimi of Nigeria.
He was the talisman, the go-to man in this final.
This game was an extremely tight and intense game, and to break their opponents down, his teammates consistently looked towards him for inspiration.
But Sam was being man-marked.
Sofyan Amrabat was his shadow this game, following him everywhere, defending doggedly old school style.
Sam was patient though, trying his best not to be frustrated.
He knew that his moment would come eventually.
His moment didn't come in the first half though. After an intense game across 45 minutes, a quarter from an hour, the half-time whistle was finally blown by the referee, leaving both countries to share the spoils 1-1 after the first half.
During half-time, Eric Chelle had a few words for his players.
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But in the end, what he meant was.
"We can win, so let's win!"
Sitting in his corner of the dressing room, Sam fiddled with a puzzle box in his hand even as the events of the first half replayed in his mind.
Sofyan Amrabat did a good job of keeping him in check.
That was why now in the dressing room, the only thoughts in his head were those of the Manchester United midfielder.
He replayed Amrabat's movements in his head, his preferences, which of his leg he moved first when tackling and pressing, Noah's brain became a supercomputer as he analyzed all the details in his mind.
And by the time they had to re-enter the pitch, he already had a concrete image in his mind of his opponent…, a concrete image on how to dismantle his opponent, Sofyan Amrabat.
It was time to put his plan and image to the test.
FWEEEE!
The second half started.
Just like the first, it was a tight game between 2 formidable sides.
Both sides created chances, but nothing concrete. It was an exciting but nerve-wracking game as the fans watched on.
'Score already dammit!' The fans felt like they would have a heart attack any moment as the game progressed.
50 minutes, no goal…
60 minutes, no goal…
And then, in the 67th minute of this game.
Click!
Everything clicked, all the stars aligning in the perfect image that Sam had in his head as he finally outthought Sofyan Amrabat.
In the 67th minute of the game, Sam erupted.
In the 67th minute of the game, he started a solo run that would become iconic, remembered for decades.
In the 67th minute, he started a sequence of play that would forever be synonymous with the name, Samuel Moses.
And the name, Zinedine Sam.
In the 67th minute, Sam erupted, singlehandedly tearing Morocco apart.
Wilfried Ndidi played the pass, having just halted another Morocco attack in its tracks before quickly playing a pass to Sam in the half-way line.
As soon as Sam's leg touched the ball, his body entered a state of ultra instinct!
BZZZ!
He erupted.
