Bilal El Khannouss feeling weight of AFCON history as Nigeria battle looms

The hosts face Nigeria in Wednesday night’s semifinal at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat after cruising past Cameroon, while the Super Eagles reached this stage with a comfortable victory over Algeria.

Speaking ahead of the showdown, El Khannouss says the players feel a responsibility to reward the passionate home support by delivering the trophy.

"Yeah, of course, it means a lot and we want to give this title to our country because it has been a long time since Morocco won the AFCON," said El Khannous.

"And I think, even today, the last time we went to the semifinals, I wasn't even born, so we are really proud but we've done nothing yet. We have two games left and we're going to prepare [well] for the next one."

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The Atlas Lions are aiming to reach their first AFCON final since 2004, when they finished runners-up after going down to tournament hosts Tunisia.

The 21-year-old is not fazed by the other three teams that remain in the competition.  

"Yeah, of course, we're going to prepare for the next game like we always do, and if you want to win the tournament you have to beat everyone, so we take whoever is coming and we go on," he concluded.

The winner of this tie will face the winner between Egypt and Senegal in Sunday night's final, while the losers of both fixtures will meet in the bronze medal play-off on Saturday evening.