How Osimhen, Akor broke Zidane’s heart

By : Gowon Akpodonor

Date: 12 January 2026 4:11am WAT

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Osimhen

Osimhen

Algeria’s coach accepts Super Eagles’ superiority Former World champion, Zinedin Zidane left the Marrakech Stadium on Saturday shaking his head in disappointment. Reason: His son, Lucas Zidane, was made to look ordinary by the Super Eagles duo of Victor Osimhen and Adams Akor in the quarterfinal match against Algeria.

The Algerian goalkeeper, Lucas is the son of the legendary Zinedine Zidane of France. The father led France to win the FIFA World Cup, but Lucas chose to represent Algeria, instead of France.

Before the game against Nigeria on Saturday, Lucas had not conceded any goal. However, his clean sheet came crumbling in Marrakech.

After managing to save the Algerians in the first half, Lucas came face to face with the current most lethal striking force in African football, and that made him look ordinary.

First, he could not believe what happened when Osimhen jumped so high in the sky to nod the ball, which he couldn’t save despite spreading his two hands and legs at the same time.

Then came another moment of truth for Lucas when Akor rounded him up with a swerve to give Nigeria the second goal.

To make matters worse, the boastful Algerians, led by Riyadh Mahrez, failed to register a single shot at goal against the Super Eagles in Marrakech on Saturday. They had vowed to send Nigerians home early, the same way they did at Egypt 2019 AFCON, where a Mahrez free kick outside the box gave Algeria a 2-1 win over the Super Eagles in the semifinal.

The failure by Lucas to save the Desert Foxes notwithstanding, many football lovers across Africa are proud of him for choosing to identify with African Football.

Meanwhile, Algeria coach Vladimir Petković admitted after the game that his side were second best despite what his wards said after the game.

Some of the Algerian players and officials surrounded the match officials at the end of the game, accusing them of bias against their side.

They cited what they claimed was a clear penalty when the ball touched Semi Ajayi’s hand in the box, saying that the referee, Issa Sy, did not award the call because he wanted to favour the Super Eagles.

But Petkovic said that the better team won on the day.

The Bosnian said: “Congratulations to Nigeria, they were better than us. In the first half we were too scattered; in the second half it was a bit better.

“We were missing several things. They didn’t let us dribble. Some refereeing decisions weren’t easy, but our opponent was particularly strong and showed their quality.”

On the referees’ performance, he said: “I don’t want to comment on the referee’s match because it’s pointless, but if you watch what happened in the first half, you’ll understand.”

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