Former Kaizer Chiefs transfer target the hero as Nigeria's Super Eagles clinch record-extending AFCON bronze after Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah and Manchester City's Omar Marmoush flop

Nigeria are the Africa Cup of Nations bronze medallists after beating Egypt 4-2 in the third-place playoffs through post-match penalty shootouts in Casablanca on Saturday.

After a goalless draw in regulation time, the teams went straight to the penalty kicks, where Nigeria reigned supreme, clinching a record-extending AFCON bronze medal.

Although the Super Eagles missed their first penalty, they were precise in the subsequent ones and managed to win the bronze medal. The opposite can be said of Egypt, who were let down by their English Premier League stars.

Meanwhile, the Pharaohs enjoyed moments of dominance in the early stage of the first half, but they failed to make use of their advantage of giant ball possession.

As Egypt pressed, the Nigerians were left with no choice but to attempt orthodox means to stop their opponents from wreaking havoc. One particular moment is when Bright Osayi-Samuel made a rough challenge, and the referee, Jalal Jayed, was left with no option but to give the Egyptians a free kick in the 12th minute. Just like it was the case with their earlier chances, the record AFCON champions lost also this one as Mostafa Mohamed sent his effort wide and gave Nigeria a goal kick. 

Another chance for the 2010 champions came in the 13th minute, but Trezeguet's eventual attempt to find his teammate in Nigeria's box was futile as Igoh Ogbu cleared.

Egypt's effort to break away through Emam Ashour in the 16th minute was also met with resolute defence by the Super Eagles as Semi Ajayi cleared the ball.

Mohanad Lasheen and Trezeguet's one-on-one play in the 34th minute was a promising move by the Egyptian, but the Nigerian goalkeeper read every move and eventually stopped the attack.

After surviving scary moments, the Super Eagles turned the tide against the North Africans and indeed scored a 36th-minute goal. Samuel Chukwueze spotted Akor Adams, whose header beat Egyptian goalkeeper Oufa Shobeir.

However, Nigeria's celebration was temporary, as there was a VAR review to determine whether there was an infringement in the build-up. Finally, Egypt breathed a sigh of relief as Nigeria were disappointed after the goal was cancelled.

The Super Eagles were again unlucky when another goal was ruled out in the 46th minute; Ademola Lookman scored, but he was visibly disappointed when it was ruled out for offside.

Nigeria's head coach, Eric Chelle, was forced to make a change in the 65th minute when Bright Osayi-Samuel, who was impressive at the back, was injured, and he was replaced by former Arsenal star Alex Iwobi.

The Pharaohs made a strong appeal for a penalty after Omar Marmoush went down inside the box. Although the referee initially waved play on, he broke the play in the 82nd minute to review the VAR footage for a possible penalty for Egypt. After the VAR check, the play continued as the penalty calls were dismissed.

More injury setbacks hit Nigeria again in the added time of the second half when Semi Ajayi was injured, and he was replaced by Chidozie Awaziem.

After a goalless draw in regulation, the showdown had to be decided by the post-match shootouts.

Fisayo Dele-Bashir missed Nigeria's opening goal before Akor Adams, Moses Simon, Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman scored.

For Egypt, Salah and Marmoush missed, while Rami Rabia and Mahmoud Saber scored.

Stanley Nwabali, who was once on the radar of Kaizer Chiefs, denied Salah and Marmoush, and he was the point of difference between the African heavyweights.

His heroics saw Nigeria's perfect record in AFCON third-place playoffs continue; before the match against Egypt, the Super Eagles had contested seven third-place matches at AFCON and won all of them.

Salah will leave Morocco with his head low because his primary ambition of winning AFCON failed, and when Egypt needed him to set the tone right during the spot kicks against Nigeria, he failed too.

He also had a chance to make history; he has 11 AFCON goals and could have drawn level with Hassan El-Shazly as Egypt’s top AFCON scorer, but failed to do so.