AFCON: ‘I told my husband’ – Mercy Akide says she knew Chukwueze was going to miss penalty 

Former Nigeria international, Mercy Akide, has said that she knew that Samuel Chukwueze was going to miss his penalty kick against Morocco in the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Morocco beat Nigeria in the competition to progress to the final, no thanks to Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi who handed their kicks to the goalkeeper.

Chukwueze came on from the bench just one minute into stoppage time during extra time, specifically to take a penalty, replacing Frank Onyeka.

After Hamza Igamane’s shot was saved by goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, Chukwueze got a chance to give the Super Eagles a big advantage in the penalty shootout.

But he was stopped by Morocco’s goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, who stayed calm and made a good save with a dive.

Super Falcons veteran, Akide said it was not easy for Chukwueze at that point because the noise in the stadium was bigger than him.

On the ATHLST podcast, Akide said, “Before he took the kick, I saw him. He likes to joke around, perhaps because of his age. If you check their social media posts, he’s always making jokes.

“In that situation, even though he had been practicing penalties and felt confident he could take one, the crowd was too big for him, and you could already tell by the way he was acting as he was about to take the penalty.

“Penalty takers don’t just stroll over like that, lean to one side, and just kick the ball. It’s really scary to take a penalty kick. Everyone believes you can just kick it in, but it’s not that simple.

“They should not blame him. This is how the game should have gone, with one team always coming out on top. We shouldn’t blame him; we should just let him be. He’s not the only one who didn’t get it right; the defender Bruno also missed.

“You could tell by the way his body moved as he walked. I told my husband, Colin, that I was scared. He showed the goalkeeper where he was going to kick his penalty.

“He might have placed it on the other side. When he made the last touch, he didn’t lift his head. It wasn’t an easy shot to stop, but the goalkeeper did a great job, just like our own goalkeeper.

“They shouldn’t discourage him; he’s a young guy.”

AFCON: ‘I told my husband’ – Mercy Akide says she knew Chukwueze was going to miss penalty