The Atlas Lions of Morocco on Sunday night lifted their first CHAN trophy after whipping the Super Eagles of Nigeria 4-0 at Stade Mohamed V, Casablanca.
Morocco is now the first country to host and win a CHAN tournament since it began in 2009.
Morocco’s Zakaria Hadraf’s double and strikes from Walid El Karti and Ayoub El Kaabi were enough to tear apart a 10-man Super Eagles.
The goal from Morocco's Ayoub El Kaabi was his ninth goal and that won him the top scorer of the CHAN 2018 tournament.
Morocco was pooled in Group A along with Sudan, Guinea and Mauritania. They secured two wins in the group drawing only with Sudan in the final group game. They topped the group with seven points and seven goals conceding one, against Guinea.
In the knockout rounds, they ended Namibia’s fairytale run with an emphatic 2 – 0 victory in the quarter-finals. They were made to work harder in the semi-finals after Libya forced the game in extra-time. The Lions managed to get two goals to avoid shootouts.
The defending champions, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) failed to qualify to defend the title they won in 2016 in Rwanda. They are the record holders having won it twice – they won the maiden edition of CHAN in 2009 in Ivory Coast.
The CHAN tournament is administered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and is played between the best national teams of Africa, exclusively featuring players who are active in the national championships and qualified to play in the ongoing season.
Expatriate players, regardless of where they play, even in Africa, are not qualified to take part in the African Championship of Nations.
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