Paris Saint-Germain and Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi has broken his silence over his penalty miss at the AFCON round of 16 game on Tuesday against South Africa, apologising to millions of Moroccan fans across the world.
Achraf Hakimi who missed a golden opportunity in the game against South Africa to level things up for his country from the spot, when the score was still 1-0 in favour of South Africa, a game which South Africa eventually won by 2-0, took to his social media handle on Wednesday 31st January 2024, to register his regrets and take responsibility for Morocco’s early ouster from the ongoing 2024 AFCON in Côte d’Ivoire.
“Today is a very difficult and sad day for our elimination. I would like to apologize for the penalty, I took responsibility to help the team, but unfortunately it didn’t work. I would like to thank all the Moroccan people for their support, especially all the people who came to Côte d’Ivoire. We will get up and come back stronger for the future! Insha’Allah.
Dima Maghrib! And good luck to the South African national team for the rest of the competition,” he said.
Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena scored in the second half for the Bafana Bafana team to book a spot for South Africa in the last 8 of the competition.