Nigeria defeats South Africa set to face hosts in AFCON final

Nigeria and Ivory Coast will go head to head once again and for one final time in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in the title decider. The fixture is a repeat of the second group stage game in Group A, which ended 1-0 in favor of the Super Eagles. It is coming after the respective victories of the three-time winners Nigeria and two-time winners Ivory Coast in their respective semi-finals.

A William Troost-Ekong penalty saw the Super Eagles emerge winners of their semi-final fixture against South Africa, but the West Africans needed penalty shootouts to secure their AFCON final ticket.

The three-time winners, whose last night Africa Cup of Nations title was in South Africa 11 years ago, led through skipper Troost-Ekong through a 67th-minute penalty.

Jose Peseiro’s side thought they had scored a second goal when Victor Osihmen found the back of the net, but the VAR ruled out his goal for a foul in the build, which ended up being a penalty against the Nigerians.

South Africa converted through Teboho Mokoehna on the 90th-minute mark to force extra time. Despite Grant KeKana’s red card deep in extra time, Nigeria couldn’t make use of the numerical advantage.

It went down to a shootout, a terrain that Bafana Bafana overcame in the quarterfinals against Cape Verde with the heroics of goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, who saved four kicks against Cape Verde.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t replicate such performances, and Nigeria scored four out of the five penalties taken, with Ola Aina, the only Nigerian player to miss, while Stanley Nwabali, who is based in South Africa with Chippa United, saved two for Nigeria.

Ivory Coast, on their part, beat DR Congo in the second semi-final 1-0, with Sebastian Haller scoring in the 65th minute to send the hosts through. Nigeria and Ivory Coast will play the Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday in Abidjan, 24 hours after South Africa and DRC play the third-place match.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu