Morocco head coach Walid Regragui has stated that having too much time before effecting his penalty kick disturbed Brahim Diaz and played a role in his missed attempt.
Diaz missed his penalty kick attempt 24 minutes in added on time as Senegal threatened to boycott the game as a way of expressing their displeasure over the penalty call.
Several Senegal players went to the dressing room but got convinced by the likes of Sadio Mane to get back on the pitch to resume play and Diaz’s panenka penalty attempt failed woefully as Edouard Mendy easily saved the penalty.
Senegal midfielder Pape Gueye slammed home the winning goal in extra time to clinch Senegal’s second AFCON title via a 1-0 win over Morocco.
Speaking after the game, Walid Regragui spoke about Diaz’s missed penalty where he highlighted the long delay as a big reason for the miss.
“He had a lot of time before taking the penalty which must have disturbed him but we can’t change what happened. That is how he chose to take the penalty. We need to look forwards now” Regragui said according to the BBC.
Despite the penalty miss, Brahim Diaz finished as the competition’s top goal scorer with five goals.
