Morocco crush Mali dreams, Tunisia edge through
Morocco stayed cool and calm on a hot night in Tunisia to crush Mali - and their hopes of an appearance in the final - with a 4-0 win in Sousse.
Youssef Mokhtari scored twice as Morocco carved their through the Mali defence, with late efforts from Youssef Hadji and Nabil Baha propelling them easily into their first final since 1976 - the last time they won the tournament.
"We were well-disciplined against a talented Mali team," said Morocco coach Badou Zaki. "But they came up against a very strong Morocco team which managed to dictate the play and deserved to win."
Morocco dominated from the outset and it was less than 15 minutes before Mokhtari curled in a superb free kick from the edge of the area.
"After the first goal went in we never recovered," said Mali coach Henri Stambouli. "Then it became a nightmare, as we kept getting caught on the break."
Mokhtari added a second shortly after the interval, a stinging low shot with his left. And Hadji scored Morocco's third goal with 10 minutes left. Baha added the fourth in injury time.
Coach Badou Ezaki praised Morocco's discipline following a display which left Mali players in tears.
"Mali have excellent individuals and can cause problems for any team but I think Morocco were well disciplined and well in control of the match," he said. "We created chances, scored four times and could even have had more."
Looking ahead to Saturday, he said: "It's an all-Arab final and I hope Morocco and Tunisia put on a good show, with fair play."
That's something Stambouli can still only dream about after the west African side's fourth appearance at the finals ended in desperate fashion.
"Everybody is ready, everybody is strong before a semi-final," Stambouli said. "But when you concede a goal from a free kick after 15 minutes and have to try and get back into the game against a team who pack the midfield, it obviously makes everything more difficult.
"It's a very heavy scoreline tonight," he said. "It's hard to take and it really hurts... in the dressing room, they're crying. They're extremely disappointed.
"These are difficult moments. But they are also the moments that you judge a man by."
Looking ahead to Friday's playoff against Nigeria, he said: "It's going to be hard to rouse them for the match for third place."
Morocco will face Tunisia in the final after the hosts dispatched the fancied Nigeria 5-3 on penalties.
A tense match had finished 1-1 after extra time thanks to two penalties, the first converted by Jay-Jay Okocha for Nigeria and the second by Khaled Badra eight minutes from time.
Tunisia came through the tie after the heroics of 37-year-old keeper Ali Bounnijel in a shootout which saw him stop Peter Odemwingie's kick before Karim Hagui scored the deciding kick.
"I was really concentrating and he hit it well but it feels fantastic to have made the save.
"We worked on penalties before the game but it was a collective effort. The preparation was really supportive and we have had a real intensity to our game," Boumnijel said.
After the match, Tunisian coach Roger Lemerre paid testament to his players' hard work in the finals.
"It was a very difficult encounter but now we all wish to become the champions. We want to feel like we are in paradise. "The players have understood that the hard work they put in is responsible for the victory," he said. "They have also learnt that a lot of goals are scored in the last minutes of the match and that is why we did not give up. We are very happy."