Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle has said there is no cause for alarm over captain Wilfred Ndidi’s suspension as Nigeria face Morocco in the semi-final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday (today).
Ndidi, who has started four of Nigeria’s last five matches in the tournament, will miss the crucial last-four clash at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat after picking up a second yellow card of the competition in the quarter-final against Algeria.
He had been booked in the round-of-16 win against Mozambique, and the caution in the last eight resulted in an automatic one-match ban.
The skipper was later substituted in the game against Algeria in the 69th minute after sustaining a hamstring injury.
While he is unavailable regardless of his fitness, Chelle admitted he would miss the midfielder but remains confident in the options available to replace him.
‘I’m disappointed for him because he brings so much to the team’, Chelle said in his pre-match interview on Tuesday.
‘But we are a group. There are some very good players in the team who are waiting for a chance to show what they can bring. So I’m very confident about that. I have to make a choice between some players, and everything will be fine’.
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Ndidi has anchored Nigeria’s midfield in four matches, allowing Alex Iwobi and others the freedom to dictate the tempo further forward.
He was rested in Nigeria’s final group game against Uganda, with Raphael Onyedika — who scored twice in the match — and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru stepping up in midfield.
In Ndidi’s absence against Morocco, Chelle could deploy Onyedika or Frank Onyeka in the deeper midfield role.
Ahead of today’s showdown in Rabat, both teams remain unbeaten, with Nigeria winning all five of their matches, while Morocco have recorded four wins and one draw.
Wednesday’s encounter will be the sixth meeting between the sides at the Africa Cup of Nations. Morocco have won three of those fixtures, while Nigeria have recorded two victories.
It will also be their first AFCON meeting in 22 years and the second time they face each other in a semi-final. Nigeria won the previous semi-final clash in 1980, triumphing 1–0 courtesy of Felix Owolabi’s ninth-minute winner en route to their first continental title on home soil.
