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Bright Osayi-Samuel of Nigeria during the Africa Cup of Nations AFCON 2025 Copyright: IMAGOxshengolpixsx<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Super Eagles<\/a> defender Bright Osayi-Samuel has condemned the quality of officiating in their loss to Morocco in the semifinal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations <\/a>, Soccernet.ng reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u200bOsayi-Samuel was one of the standout performers for Nigeria against Morocco on Wednesday.<\/p>\n He put in a solid defensive performance despite being overloaded with attacks from Ismael Saibari, Hamza Igamane, and Abde Ezzalzouli.<\/p>\n \u200bIn his 120 minutes of action, the Birmingham City star registered three tackles, two interceptions, seven clearances, four recoveries, and 79 touches.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for him and his teammates, his effort came to naught, as they eventually lost via a penalty shootout.<\/p>\n After the game, Osayi-Samuel was visibly disappointed, but he remained positive, noting that they were only bested by the narrowest of margins.<\/p>\n \u201cPainful, very painful, to obviously lose. I think we played very well, defense was\u2026 the back four was amazing,\u201d Osayi-Samuel told Victor Ademola.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m proud of the team. The manager came down and said he’s proud of the team, the (NFF) board members came down and said they’re proud of the team, so it’s just really painful that you know, we lost on penalties. Penalties is all about luck, it’s a lottery, and today we didn’t win that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u200bThe referee of the game between Nigeria and Morocco, Daniel Laryea, has come under a lot of criticism for his performance.<\/p>\n He made a few questionable calls in the game, albeit none of them cost the Super Eagles a goal or contributed directly to the team’s loss.<\/p>\n \u200bHowever, his yellow card to Calvin Bassey was costly, as that effectively ruled the Fulham star out of the third-place game.<\/p>\n At different points in the match, several Nigerian players even expressed their frustration at his calls.<\/p>\n \u200bOsayi-Samuel did not hold back when talking about the officiating after the game. He admitted that Laryea was not the reason for their loss, but stated that his performance on the night was disappointing.<\/p>\n Bright Osayi-Samuel:![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/imago1071253806-1-scaled.jpg\")
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\n\u201cThe refereeing was appalling. It\u2019s a big shame we still have officials like that today.\u201d
\n\u2014 speaking after Nigeria\u2019s loss to host Morocco in the AFCON 2025 semifinals.#AdemolaVictorAtAfcon2025<\/a>
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