By Osasu Obayiuwana BBC Sport, Monastir

Nigeria's Joseph Yobo and Isaac Okoronkwo on the defensive

Substitute Youssef Hadji's late goal secured a shock 1-0 win for Morocco over fancied Nigeria in the opening game in Group D.

Hadji replaced the impressive Jaouad Zairi on the hour and made the breakthrough 13 minutes from time.

Joseph Yobo was left standing as Hadji turned and shot past Vincent Enyeama.

Marouane Chamakh missed an early chance for Morocco when he headed wide with the goal at his mercy and also saw a late shot pushed onto a post.

KEY MOMENTS 19 mins: Chamakh heads wide with the goal at his mercy 73 mins: Substitute Hadji scores the only goal 89 mins: Chamakh shot pushed onto a post

The Moroccans, who showed little respect for their more experienced opponents, snatched control of the tie from the kick-off.

Consistent pressure on the Super Eagles defence led to an eighth-minute booking for defender Yobo, who struggled to catch up with attacking midfielder Zairi.

Zairi, who was the livewire of the Moroccan attack, was a thorn in the flesh of defender Isaac Okoronkwo, who lacked the pace to effectively contend with the rampaging forward.

We needed to take the game more seriously - we virtually allowed the Moroccans to do what they wanted to do and it was only when they scored we were able to turn on the pressure Nigeria captain Jay-Jay Okocha

Zairi's incessant incursions nearly paid off in the 19th minute, when he outwitted Okoronkwo on the right flank and whipped up a cross that met the head of Chamakh in the penalty box.

But his header amazingly went wide, to the consternation of Morocco manager Zaki Badou.

Nigeria, playing with the attacking pair of Julius Aghahowa and Yakubu Ayegbeni, were unable to weave their way through Morocco's central defence.

Efforts by midfielder Jay-Jay Okocha to lob balls from the midfield for the pair provided little problems for captain Nourredine Naybet and Abdelslam Ouaddou, who dominated aerial battles for posession.

We played well against a team with big names from the European leagues Morocco coach Badou Zaki

The second half saw no dramatic change in the tone of the tie, as Badou Zaki opted to reinvigorate their attack with the pair of Hadji and Mohammed El Yaagoubi, a switch that proved instrumental to their victory.

Stung by Hadji's goal, Nigeria manager Christian Chukwu opted to replace Ayegbeni with Victor Agali in the 79th minute.

But that did little to provide new options for a Super Eagles side that had run out of ideas.

Nigeria: Vincent Enyeama, George Abbey, Celestine Babayaro, Isaac Okoronkwo, Joseph Yobo, Seyi Olofinjana, Jay-Jay Okocha, John Utaka, Nwankwo Kanu, Yakubu Ayegbeni, Julius Aghahowa

Morocco: Khalid Fouhami, Walid Regragui, Abdelsalam Ouaddou, Talal El Karkouri, Noureddine Naybet, Jaouad Zairi, Abdelkarim Kissi, Houcine Kharja, Youssef Safri, Mokhtari Youssef, Marouane Chamakh