African Nations Cup Semi-finals: Tunisia 4 Mali 0: Striker Youssef Mokhtari netted twice as Morocco thrashed Mali 4-0 yesterday to earn a place in the African Nations Cup final against host nation Tunisia on Saturday.

Mokhtari cracked home a free-kick after 15 minutes and added another in the 58th minute to kill the game off, leaving goals from Youssef Hadji and substitute Nabil Baha in the last 10 minutes to turn the victory into a rout.

Morocco looked comfortable throughout against opponents who rarely looked like scoring despite having the tournament's joint top scorer in Frederic Kanoute.

Tunisia edged past Nigeria 5-3 on penalties after the two sides had drawn 1-1.

The hosts equalised through a Khaled Badra penalty eight minutes from time after Nigeria had taken the lead from another penalty, converted by Jay Jay Okocha.

"The players have understood that the hard work they put in is responsible for the victory," said coach Roger Lemerre.

The former France coach has overseen the transformation of the north African side from one that failed to score at the last Nations Cup to finalists two years later.