At the end of the round of 16 stage of the AFCON tournant, a few things were established in the tournant.
First, Sam pulled away from his rivals in the golden boot race, establishing himself as the challenger in pole position to win the golden boot with his incredible haul of 7 goals and 3 assists in just 4 gas.
Sam's career rise was nothing short of teoric.
He did it in the NPFL with Enyimba FC, he did it in the English Premier League with Fulham FC, and now he was doing it with FC Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga.
And also now, he was doing it in the AFCON tournant.
Sam was still just 20, but he played with the maturity and skill of a veteran of the ga. His ga intelligence was far ahead of his real age, just like Lamine Yamal.
No stage was too big for him, no opponent was too big for him.
He could perform anywhere, anyti, and that was what made him special.
After what he did with Fulham last season, lots of football fans around the world learned about Sam, becoming his fans. And with what he was doing with FC Barcelona this season, his fanbase only kept on increasing.
This season, he was the early ballon d'Or favorite but Sam was clearly showing that the pressure of such a position was not getting to him.
Ballon d'Or favorite or not, he was still Samuel Moses, dubbed Zinedine Sam, the boy that was ready to give his all anyti on the pitch to win.
Because of Sam alone, a lot more football fans watched the AFCON tournant this year, him being the center of attention of the tournant.
And being the center of attention, the pressure still didn't get to him.
Sam was balling out in the AFCON tournant, leading Nigeria as one of the favorites to go all the way and win the trophy.
But he was not the only star player balling out in the tournant though.
Mohad Salah may have dropped off in the golden boot race, but overall, his impact was still synonymous with Egypt's success.
It was his assist that helped Omar Marmoush score in the last ga, helping Egypt to finally break the deadlock and get the winner.
The Egyptian King was still very much in the golden ball race, so was Sam, and so was Ismaila Sarr.
The Senegalese forward, Ismaila Sarr was another stand-out player in the tournant, and the closest player to Sam in the golden boot race with 5 goals.
Despite the fact that he didn't score in Senegal's round of 16 ga, he was the one who created the assist for Sadio Mane's first goal that ended up being the winner. His influence in the Senegal side was massive.
Also in the golden ball race were 2 stars from the host nation, Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Diaz. Both were balling out for Morocco in the tournant.
In front of their ho fans, both star players felt in their elents.
Their numbers may not contend with the 3 others who were favorites for the golden ball award, but if Morocco managed to go all the way in the tournant, there was nothing stopping them from scooping ho the award.
The round of 16 battle was over…, 8 countries progressed while 8 were eliminated.
Now, all focus moved to the epic quarterfinal matchups.
The heat was amping up, the pressure was hitting a crescendo.
(AFCON 2025:)
(Quarterfinal:)
(Egypt – Morocco)
(Date: 9th January, 2026)
…
(Tunisia – Algeria)
(Date: 9th January, 2026)
…
(Caroon – Nigeria)
(Date: 10th January, 2026)
…
(Botswana – Senegal)
(Date: 10th January, 2026)
The round of 16 gas ended on the 6th, giving the players at least 2 days of rest to prepare for the next ga.
Due to the side of the tournant bracket that they were put in, the first ga of the AFCON 2025 quarterfinals was poised to be a blockbuster encounter; a clash between 2 African footballing giant nations, Egypt and Morocco.
Both countries had ti to rest and prepare for the epic clash.
The other clash to be played on the 9th was the encounter between Tunisia and Algeria, 2 average African footballing nations who managed to dig themselves all the way to the quarterfinal stage.
And then, the next day, scheduled on the 10th was Senegal and Nigeria's gas against inferior opponents on paper.
Due to this matchup, all eyes focused on the first clash of the quarterfinal stage, the epic encounter between Egypt and Morocco.
Sam could not imagine the mood in both nation's camp.
It must be filled with a lot of tension, or maybe not.
But none of that really concerned him, this was because Nigeria had their own ga to play just a day after the blockbuster clash between Egypt and Morocco.
Instead of worrying about them, he worried about Nigeria's imdiate opponent, Caroon.
Nigeria was billed as the favorites in that ga, but Sam already played enough football at the professional level to know the consequence of underestimating an opponent.
They made it to the quarterfinal for a reason, and Sam respected them for it.
For the next few days after the round of 16, while engaging in recovery asures, they also trained like their lives was on the line.
These days, Eric Chelle had eyebags under his eyes as if he was not sleeping as the coach lived, breath, and saw tactics even in his dreams.
The last thing Eric Chelle wanted was for his team to be eliminated due to an oversight from his side, this was why he gave his all.
Tactically, he drilled his team.
Physically, he worked them to the bones.
Day in, day out, and in no ti like this, it was D-day.
9th January, 2026…
In the 75,000 capacity Grand Stade de Tanger stadium in Tangier, filled to the brim with passionate football fans in red and white, Egypt lined up against the hosts, Morocco in the epic ga of the quarterfinal stage.
Both teams were stacked and at their strongest.
It was going to be an epic ga.
The Nigerian team watched the ga as one in their hotel.
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