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| The Eagles thank God for the sweet victory |
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| Man of the tournament, Emenike flaunts his personal award and the AFCON trophy |
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| A disappointed BANCE |
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| Sunday Mba celebrates his goal |
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| Beautiful fireworks to end the 2013 AFCON |
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A First half goal from a impressive individual effort by Sunday Mba was enough to give the African giants the 3rd AFCON title.
As for Burkina Faso, they fought hard but were ultimately outclassed by the Super Eagles, though they deserve credit for a fantastic showing as one of the surprise packages of the 2013 tournament.
Both sides struggled to find a rhythm of play in the first half, though Nigeria settled quicker and created a couple of decent early chances.
The best fell the way of Brown Ideye, who shot over an unguarded net in the 10th minute after Burkina Faso goalkeeper Daouda Diakite dropped a straightforward ball at a corner kick.
The Stallions’ Aristide Bance, who missed a boatload of chances in the semifinal against Ghana, looked his side’s most poent attacking weapon but his radar was off with two long range efforts in the 25th and 28th minutes.
The match appeared to be headed for a goalless first half, but on 40 minutes the Super Eagles broke the deadlock. The chance stemmed from a Victor Moses shot that was blocked by a Burkinabe defender.
The ensuing looping ball was controlled on the run by Sunday Mba, who then poked it past a defender before firing a left-footed volley into the bottom corner of the net to put Nigeria 1-0 up.
The Super Eagles almost doubled their advantage just three minutes into the second half when Ideye had a neat turn and shot from a tight angle, but Diakite did just enough to deflect the ball wide of the far post.
They also had a couple of good opportunities on the counter attack that they failed to take advantage of, while Burkina substitute Wilfried Sanou drove a first-time shot from a tough angle just wide of the far post in the 74th minute.
Ideye and substitute Ahmed Musa had a couple of great chances to kill off the game in the dying minutes of regulation time, but they were unable to find the back of the net against a scrambling defence.
Yet their misses were not in vain, as Nigeria held out to claim a famous victory that sees them return to the top of African football.
Congratulations Nigeria!
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ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
Congratulations!!
Congratulations!!!
NIGERIA
I'm so glad and proud dat we'v won d AFCON cup today.the last time we won dis cup i was in primary 5,now i'm a graduate and a parent wit 2 kids.i'm so elated.Thank u so much super eagles.The Lord bless u all.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad and proud dat we'v won d AFCON cup today.the last time we won dis cup i was in primary 5,now i'm a graduate and a parent wit 2 kids.i'm so elated.Thank u so much super eagles.The Lord bless u all.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!!!
ReplyDeleteMay d star of Ghana remain black forever for wishing Nigeria bad luck. Super Fried Chicken has now become a household name. Up SUPER EAGLES OF NIGERIA!
ReplyDeleteMust every news be BREAKING? This one is not BREAKING. It is BUILDING!
ReplyDeleteThe real KING is back! Congrats Naija!!!
God bless super eagle of nigeria
ReplyDeleteAm happy 4 9ja oo up up 9ja.
DeleteCongrat i wish to dedicate the cup to Rasheedi Yekini. May he rest in peace
ReplyDelete19 years of waiting.... S̴̩☺̴̩̩̥̩̩̩̥ †ђξ man on number 19 shirt did ℓ̊† for us........HURRAY!!! UP SUPER EAGLES, UP NIGERIA
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteI was very happy when Nigeria won super eagles match....!!