When referee Ndala Ngambo pointed to the penalty spot in the 97th minute of the Africa Cup final between Senegal and Morocco, a surreal chain of events began in which Brahim was at the center of almost all of them.
The Moroccan hero and top scorer of the Africa Cup was the subject of the penalty kick and the one responsible for taking it 17 minutes later. "He had too much time before taking the shot, which must have disturbed him," commented the Moroccan coach, Walid Regragui. Senegal had decided to leave the field after considering that they had been disadvantaged by the disallowed goal due to a supposed foul on Achraf minutes earlier, and then they felt that the hold on the Moroccan number 10 was not enough to deserve that punishment.
Thus, in the 114th minute, the forward of Malaga origin placed the ball on the penalty spot and ran to kick it against Edouard Mendy, while at the other end of the field the fight between Senegalese fans and the police continued. Despite feinting to shoot with power, Brahim decided to try a Panenka that the Senegalese goalkeeper anticipated and cradled gently in his arms. "It was his choice, we can't change what happened... it's very tough to have been a minute away from being champions," stated Regragui.
The execution and what happened afterwards, with no celebration of the save by the Senegalese players, has been criticized in the Moroccan press and sparked unfounded rumors on social media about whether the miss was intentional.
"Does anyone really think that, a minute before the end and with an entire country waiting for this title for 50 years, we can agree on something like that? He wanted to score and I did my job by stopping it, nothing more," responded the Senegalese goalkeeper to those comments, while sources close to Brahim assure that he is not thinking about that and is only sad for having missed it.
The incident left the player shaken, and he was substituted shortly after by his coach for Villarreal's player, Ilias Akhomach. But everything would unravel with Pape Gueye's goal shortly after and Senegal's final victory over the hosts at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
After the match, the Real Madrid forward could not hold back his tears and with a distraught face, he had to go up to the stage to receive from Gianni Infantino the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer with five goals. He scored in every match of the championship until the semifinals, but failed at the most critical moment for his national team.
It may be a curse that Morocco suffers with penalties in an Africa Cup they have not won for 50 years. In 2019, it was Ziyech who missed a penalty that knocked them out in the round of 16 against Benin, in 2023 it was Achraf who missed a penalty that could have given life to his team against South Africa, and now Brahim.
Those close to him convey that the player is receiving nothing but affection from Moroccan fans. They point out that thanks to him, they reached the Africa Cup final. "He's in shock, but this will make him stronger," sources close to the player tell EL MUNDO, assuring that he remains fully committed to Morocco.