Super Eagles Get Moroccan Ref Against Benin Republic In AFCON Qualifier

Nigeria’s men’s senior football national team, Super Eagles will have a referee from Morocco at the centre of their upcoming 2022 Africa Cup of Nations penultimate qualifier against Benin Republic, billed for Porto Novo on Mach 27th, BSNSports.com.ng reports. This is sequel to an announcement by Confederation of African Football (CAF) revealing that the Moroccan arbiter, Redouane Jiyéd will officiate Nigeria’s first game of the year in the port city of neighbouring Benin Republic, where he will be assisted by his compatriots, Lahsen Azgaou and Mostafa Akarkad. Incidentally, the same trio was also in charge of proceedings when Nigeria defeated South Africa 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the 2019 AFCON in Cairo, Egypt, where the Eagles crashed out 2-1 to eventually winners Algeria in the semi-finals but returned home with their ninth bronze medal from the continental soccer showpiece. The Eagles will then wrap up their qualification campaign for the 2022 AFCON scheduled to hold next January in Cameroon when they host Lesotho on 30th March at Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, subject to approval by CAF. The Eagles currently lead Group L of the qualification series with eight points and Gernot Rohr’s team need only a draw from their final two games to seal qualification to the tournament, heading into which SSC Napoli of Italy striker, Victor Osimhen is currently the leading scorer with four goals from three matches.