Sports
Super Eagles hold first training in Rabat for Morocco
Controversial Mauritanian named for semi-final
The Super Eagles yesterday relocated from their CAF base in Fez to Rabat and held a closed-door training session at the Mohammed VI Football Complex.
The team had previously been based in Fez after moving from Marrakech following their 2-0 quarter-final victory over Algeria.
The Super Eagles made Fes a base camp and played their first four games including the group games against Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda as well as the Round of 16 clash against Mozambique.
They will also hold their last and official training for the match at 6:15pm this evening at the same venue.
Meanwhile, controversial Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida has been appointed for Wednesday night’s AFCON semifinal between the Super Eagles and hosts Morocco.
Beida was poor when Morocco stopped Cameroon 2-0 to qualify for the semifinal of the tournament after making several calls in favour of the host nation.
One of those calls was denying Cameroon a penalty in the 68th minute, when Bryan Mbeumo was fouled inside the box.
This was after he was not originally appointed for the game, which was to be handled by an Egyptian referee Amin Omar, who was rejected by the Morocco FA.
The Mauritanian referee was roundly knocked for favouring Moroccan club RS Berkane to beat Simba of Tanzania in the Confederation Cup final.
Interestingly, Beida was also the man in charge of the 2023 AFCON final in Abidjan, which the Super Eagles lost 2-1 to hosts Cote d’Ivoire.
The appointment has raised concerns about potential bias in a match where Morocco, as hosts, already have home advantage.
