Tuesday 12 February 2013

African Cup of Nations 2013: Nigeria return to Nations Cup summit


Nigeria 1 Mba 40
Burkina Faso 0

Nigeria Enyeama - Echiejile (Oshaniwa 67), Omeruo, Oboabona, Ambrose, Onanzi, Mikel, Mba (Yobo 89), Moses, Ideye, Uche (Musa 53). Booked: Onanzi, Omerou, Mikel, Oshaniwa, Ideye.
Burkina Faso Diakite - Koffi, Kone, P Koulibaly (Dagano 84), Panandetiguiri, Kone (A Traore 90), Kabore, Rouamba (Sanou 65), Nakoulma, Pitroipa, Bance. Booked: Rouamba.
Attendance 85,000 at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg Referee Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria)
Kick off at 6.30pm GMT. Live on ITV4 and Eurosport.

NIGERIA rolled back the years to become the champions of Africa for the first time since 1994, beating surprise package Burkina Faso in the Cup of Nations Final in Johannesburg.

Sunday Mba scored the only goal of the game just before half time, following up a Victor Moses shot by beating a defender and scoring past Burkinabe keeper Daouda Diakite.

Chelsea forward Moses was named man-of-the-match in the Final but, in truth, it was a contest of few chances in what was not a classic tournament.

The early stages of the 29th African Cup of Nations were dominated by draws, with more than half of the group games - 13 out of 24 - finishing level.

Holders Zambia were the big casualties in the opening round, unable to get anywhere near the standard which they set last year as they bowed out without a win (or a loss, for that matter).

Hosts South Africa almost joined the Zambians on the scrapheap when they fell 2-1 behind in their final group game against Morocco with just 10 minutes left.

But, thankfully for the home crowd, Bafana Bafana equalised to make it 2-2 and therefore did not repeat their failure at the 2010 World Cup when they failed to get out of the group stages.

Big guns Ghana and Ivory Coast also got through - and did so with the joint best records by taking seven points each from nine.

However, that was as far as Ivory Coast went, as Nigeria produced the first of three excellent performances in the knockout stage to win 2-1 with goals from tournament top scorer Emmanuel Emenike and Mba.

Incredibly, before then, the Super Eagles were 10 minutes from going out of the tournament at the first hurdle before two Moses penalties saw off Ethiopia.

And then, having beaten the Ivorians, Nigeria produced a brilliant display in the first half of their semi final against Mali.

Goals from Uwa Elderson Echiejile, Brown Ideye, and Emenike put the Nigerians 3-0, and they eventually prevailed 4-1 after Ahmed Musa had extended the lead on the hour.

The other semi final, meanwhile, was between Ghana and Burkina Faso. With Ivory Coast out, Ghana had taken on the favourites mantle, and the Black Stars had enjoyed a comfortable ride to the last four.

Topping a group unbeaten ahead of Mali, DR Congo and Niger, the Ghanaians only had to get past Cape Verde Isles in the quarter finals.

Cape Verde were one of the undoubted stories of the tournament. Despite being the smallest team in South Africa, with a population of around 500,000, the Blue Sharks qualified behind the hosts from Group A by beating Angola 2-1 with a stoppage time goal in the last set of games.

In the quarter finals too, the islanders put up a good fight, only for Ghana to progress thanks to two goals from Wakaso Mubarak - one was a penalty, and the other was a last-minute heart-breaker.

But the Burkinabe were not to be underestimated, either.

After all, the Stallions looked good in the group stages, finishing ahead of Nigeria, knocking out the Zambians, and thrashing Ethiopia 4-0.

The quarter final against Togo was much tougher going but the Burkinabe showed great resilience before player of the tournament Jonathan Pitroipa scored the winner on the stroke of half time in extra time.

Burkina Faso's semi final also went beyond 90 minutes after Bance's goal in the second half levelled Wakaso's early penalty.

Indeed, it went all the way to spot kicks with the Burkinabe winning 3-2 as Asamoah Gyan refused to step up for the Black Stars.

Having played all of those extra minutes in their previous two games, it was perhaps understandable that Burkina Faso looked the leggier of the two teams in the Final.

No doubt the underdogs were also slightly overawed by the occasion too. This was Burkina Faso's first ever African Cup of Nations Final and Nigeria could have won more handsomely.

Nevertheless, victory was achieved and it is an important milestone for coach Stephen Keshi who was also in the successful 1994 Super Eagles team.

Keshi thus became only the second coach, after Egypt's Mahmoud El-Gohary, to win the African Cup of Nations as both a player and a coach.

But, in his post-match interview, Keshi said: "Winning this is mainly for my nation.

"When I came on board a year and a half ago. my dream was to make all Nigerians happy, and to construct a great Nigerian team. We are not there yet, it's still in process."

That much is true - but Keshi has already achieved what so many Nigerian coaches had failed to do by instilling a winning mentality into his team.

Now the task for Keshi and Nigeria is to replicate their success over a longer period so that the west Africans become the powerhouse which they used to be 15-20 years ago.

In many respects, it is a much more difficult task.


FULL AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS 2013 RESULTS
GROUP A
TVDateVenue
Eurosport/ITV4Sat 19 Jan, 16:00SOUTH AFRICA 0-0 CAPE VERDEJohannesburg
EurosportSat 21 Jan, 19:00ANGOLA 0-0 MOROCCOJohannesburg
EurosportWed 23 Jan, 15:00SOUTH AFRICA 2-0 ANGOLADurban
Eurosport/ITV4Wed 23 Jan, 18:00MOROCCO 1-1 CAPE VERDEDurban
EurosportSun 27 Jan, 17:00MOROCCO 2-2 SOUTH AFRICADurban
Eurosport2Sun 27 Jan, 17:00CAPE VERDE 2-1 ANGOLAPort Elizabeth

Group A TableWDLFAPts
(Q) SOUTH AFRICA120425
(Q) CAPE VERDE120325
Morocco030333
Angola012141

GROUP B
TVDateVenue
EurosportSun 20 Jan, 15:00GHANA 2-2 CONGO DRPort Elizabeth
Eurosport/ITV4 Sun 20 Jan, 18:00MALI 1-0 NIGERPort Elizabeth
EurosportThu 24 Jan, 15:00GHANA 1-0 MALIPort Elizabeth
Eurosport/ITV4Thu 24 Jan, 18:00NIGER 0-0 CONGO DRPort Elizabeth
EurosportMon 28 Jan, 17:00NIGER 0-3 GHANAPort Elizabeth
Eurosport2Mon 28 Jan, 17:00CONGO DR 1-1 MALIDurban

Group B TableWDLFAPts
(Q) GHANA210627
(Q) MALI111224
Congo DR030333
Niger012041

GROUP C
TVDateVenue
EurosportMon 21 Jan, 15:00ZAMBIA 1-1 ETHIOPIANelspruit
Eurosport/ITV4Mon 21 Jan, 18:00NIGERIA 1-1 BURKINA FASONelspruit
EurosportFri 25 Jan, 15:00ZAMBIA 1-1 NIGERIANelspruit
Eurosport/ITV4Fri 25 Jan, 18:00BURKINA FASO 4-0 ETHIOPIANelspruit
EurosportTue 29 Jan, 17:00BURKINA FASO 0-0 ZAMBIANelspruit
Eurosport2Tue 29 Jan, 17:00ETHIOPIA 0-2 NIGERIARustenburg

Group C Table WDLFAPts
(Q) BURKINA FASO120515
(Q) NIGERIA120425
Zambia030223
Ethiopia012171

GROUP D
TVDateVenue
EurosportTue 22 Jan, 15:00IVORY COAST 2-1 TOGORustenburg
Eurosport/ITV4Tue 22 Jan, 18:00TUNISIA 1-0 ALGERIARustenburg
Eurosport2Sat 26 Jan, 15:00IVORY COAST 3-0 TUNISIARustenburg
Eurosport/ITV4Sat 26 Jan, 18:00ALGERIA 0-2 TOGORustenburg
EurosportWed 30 Jan, 17:00ALGERIA 2-2 IVORY COASTRustenburg
Eurosport2Wed 30 Jan, 17:00TOGO 1-1 TUNISIANelspruit

Group D TableWDLFAPts
(Q) IVORY COAST210737
(Q) TOGO111434
Tunisia111244
Algeria012251

QUARTER FINALS
TVDateVenue
Eurosport/ITV4Sat 2 Feb, 15:00GHANA 2-0 CAPE VERDEPort Elizabeth
Eurosport/ITV4Sat 2 Feb, 18:30SOUTH AFRICA 1-1 MALI (1-3 pens)Durban
Eurosport/ITV4Sun 3 Feb, 15:00IVORY COAST 1-2 NIGERIARustenburg
Eurosport/ITV4Sun 3 Feb, 18:30BURKINA FASO 1-0 TOGO (aet)Nelspruit

SEMI FINALS
TVDateVenue
Eurosport/ITV4Wed 6 Feb, 15:00MALI 1-4 NIGERIADurban
Eurosport/ITV4Wed 6 Feb, 18:30BURKINA FASO 1-1 GHANA (3-2 pens)Nelspruit

THIRD-PLACED PLAYOFF
TVDateVenue
Eurosport/ITV4Sat 9 Feb, 18:00MALI 3-1 GHANAPort Elizabeth

FINAL
TVDateVenue
Eurosport/ITV4Sun 10 Feb, 18:30NIGERIA 1-0 BURKINA FASOJohannesburg

GOALSCORERS
4 Emmanuel Eminike (Nigeria), Wakaso Mubarak (Ghana)
3 Alain Traore (Burkina Faso), Seydou Keita (Mali)
2 Yao Gervinho (Ivory Coast), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Siyabonga Sangweni (South Africa), Dieumerci Mbokani (Congo DR), Victor Moses (Nigeria), Jonathan Pitroipa (Burkina Faso), Mamadou Samassa (Mali), Kwadwo Asamoah (Ghana), Sunday Mba (Nigeria)
1 Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Ghana), Tresor Mputu (Congo DR), Collins Mbesuma (Zambia), Adane Girma (Ethiopia), Jonathan Ayite (Togo), Youssef Msakni (Tunisia), Lehlohonolo Majoro (South Africa), Luis Platini Soares (Cape Verde), Youssef El-Arabi (Morocco), Kennedy Mweene (Zambia), Djakaridja Kone (Burkina Faso), Didier Ya Konan (Ivory Coast), Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Dove Wome (Togo), Issam El Adoua (Morocco), May Mahlangu (South Africa), Fernando Varela (Cape Verde), Medhi Namli (Morocco), Heldon Ramos (Cape Verde), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Christian Atsu (Ghana), John Boye (Ghana), Serge Gakpe (Togo), Khaled Mouelhi (Tunisia), Sofiane Feghouli (Algeria), El Arbi Hillel Soudani (Algeria), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Wilfried Bony (Ivory Coast), Tokelo Rantie (South Africa), Cheik Tiote (Ivory Coast), Uwa Elderson Echiejile (Nigeria), Brown Ideye (Nigeria), Ahmed Musa (Nigeria), Cheik Diarra (Mali), Aristide Bance (Burkina Faso), Sigamary Diarra (Mali)
1 own goal Nando Maria Neves (Cape Verde) for Angola

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