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Ahead of the final match between Nigeria and Ivory Coast at the ongoing African Cup of Nations, a self-acclaimed prophet, Dr Kan Ebube Muonso of the Power and Victory in Christ Church has predicted that Ivory Coast will go home with the cup but in error.
In a post on his church’s Facebook page on Friday, Kan predicted that the error would be caused by the referee.
However, the self-acclaimed prophet said he would collect the cup from Ivory Coast and hand it over to Nigeria after his mountain program by the power of God.
According to him, Nigeria is the rightful team to go home with the cup.
“IVORY COAST VS NIGERIA.
“I saw Ivory Coast going home with the cup in error by ref/partial against Nigeria but Nigeria is the rightful team that is supposed to go home with the cup, but I will collect the cup from Ivory Coast to Nigeria by the power of God after my mountain program which will commence tomorrow.
“In my next post after mountain, you will know that there is power in God.
“Operation show your power. My God will prove himself again,” the post read.
The highly anticipated friendly match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Argentina has been officially cancelled.
The cancellation comes in the wake of controversy surrounding Argentine football superstar, Lionel Messi‘s absence from a recent exhibition match in Hong Kong.
Messi, who currently plays for Inter Miami, was expected to be the main draw for a match against a Hong Kong XI.
However, the Argentine captain did not participate, leading to widespread disappointment and frustration among fans.
This incident has had a domino effect, influencing the decision to call off the upcoming friendly between Argentina and Nigeria, which was set to take place in Hangzhou, China, in March.
The situation escalated when Messi, despite missing the Hong Kong match due to injury, appeared in a game in Japan just days later.
In response to the outcry, organizers of the Hong Kong event offered a 50% refund to ticket holders, acknowledging the fans’ dissatisfaction with Messi’s absence.
The fallout from the incident has led sports authorities in Hangzhou to announce the cancellation of the friendly match.
In a statement, Hangzhou authorities, said, “As a commercial event, a company and the Argentinian soccer team negotiated that the team would play a friendly match in March this year in the city of Hangzhou.
“In view of the current well-known reasons, according to the competent authorities, conditions to hold the friendly match are not mature, therefore (we) have decided to cancel it.”
[NaijaNews]
This report presents the biggest headlines of the week.
Nigerians hope to swap Grammys for AFCON; protests hit Kogi, Niger, Rivers as Nigerians lament high cost of living; states get N3.3tn allocations even as Nigerians, including Labour leaders, urged state governors to justify increased allocations by addressing the increasing hardship among the masses.
Here are the highlights of the week’s biggest news stories, from February 4 to February 10, 2024.
- Grammy 1 Nigeria 0
On Sunday night, the 66th Annual Grammy Awards were held in Los Angeles, United States, to kick off the week. A record number of Nigerians were represented at the Grammys, with Davido, Burna Boy, Ayra Starr, Asake, and Olamide nominated, thanks to the Best African Performance category.
But on Monday morning, it was all about how they returned home empty-handed. Their fans took to the internet to lament the losses.
South Africa’s Tyla won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance with her single ‘Water’, edging out Nigerian stars.
Interestingly, because Nigeria would play against South Africa on Wednesday in the AFCON semi-finals in Ivory Coast for a chance to make it to the final, netizens challenged the Super Eagles to avenge the Grammy loss to Tyla by beating the Bafana Bafana of South Africa. This led to a tense semi-finals fixture that kept Africans at the edge of their seats.
- AFCON: Grammy avenged
After a fierce 90 minutes of play, the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, were tied 1-1 and forced into an additional 30 minutes of extra time. It all came down to a penalty shootout, which Nigeria won 4-2. The Grammy loss had been avenged and Nigerians had a field day on the internet taunting South Africa with Tyla’s ‘Water’. Nigerians also claimed that ‘Amapiano,’ a music genre that has its roots in South Africa, now belongs to Nigeria. Several celebrities joined the internet banter.
Kelechi Iheanacho scored the decisive kick that secured Nigeria’s spot in the final. But one hero reigns supreme…
- Nwabali steals the show
The Super Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, clinched the Man of the Match award after saving two penalties in the shootout.
With several clean sheets and remarkable saves, Nwabali is poised to secure the tournament’s Golden Glove award. In the tournament, Nwabali kept a tally of four straight clean sheets, which helped him break the clean sheet record held by Alloy Agu and equal Best Ogedegbe’s 44-year-old record.
In addition to his clean sheets, Nwabali has made numerous crucial saves at critical moments in matches. Fans praised his crucial saves, hailing him as Nigeria’s key to winning the tournament.
The final against Ivory Coast will be played on Sunday (tomorrow), 9 pm Nigerian time.
- AFCON heartbreak
In what can only be described as a bitter victory, PUNCH Online reported five deaths after the AFCON victory, with many reportedly dying during the penalty shootout. The individuals who lost their lives include a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Cairo Ojougboh; the Deputy Bursar of Kwara State University, Alhaji Ayuba Abdullahi; a sales representative named Mikhail Osundiji; a National Youth Service Corps member identified as Samuel; and an Anambra-born businessman based in Cote d’Ivoire, Osondu Nwoye.
Many experts have cautioned Nigerians, especially those with pre-existing health conditions, to avoid excessive emotional stress during such events. Some have even warned wives to keep their hypertensive husbands away from the AFCON final on Sunday
- His Excellency returns
President Bola Tinubu returned to Nigeria after a two-week private visit to Paris, France. The President came back at a time when protests were erupting in parts of the country over rising food and living costs, with angry youths and women taking to the streets.
Tinubu directed immediate interventions to address the situation, while discussions are ongoing to increase food supply and reduce prices in collaboration with millers and commodity traders.
After a series of meetings, more than 102,000 metric tons of various grain types from the National Food Reserve and the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria were released to address the food crisis. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced to State House correspondents the release of 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, garri, and other commodities from the strategic reserve.
Additionally, discussions with the Rice Millers Association led to a commitment of 60,000 metric tons of rice. The government said it is prepared to import commodities if necessary and is ready to take punitive measures against food hoarders to ensure food security for Nigerians.
- Cries across the nation
Protests erupted in various parts of Nigeria, including Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Kano, and Niger State, over the rising cost of living, food prices, and poor power supply. In Port Harcourt, scores of married women protested outside the office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company due to prolonged blackouts, which they said affected their personal lives, including marital relations.
Some of the placards carried by the Rivers women read, “‘We lack romance with our husbands’ and ‘Our husbands no longer touch us at night’.”
Similarly, in Kano, angry youths and women took to the streets to voice their grievances over the economic challenges facing the country and the high prices of food items. Meanwhile, in Niger State, residents protested against the high cost of living, demanding government intervention.
- Alcoholic backlash
Another wave of protests followed the ban imposed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control on the production of alcoholic beverages in sachets and small bottles. A coalition of civil society groups protested at the National Assembly. The Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association and the National Union of Food Beverages and Tobacco Employees rejected the plan, citing potential job losses for over 500,000 workers.
The House of Representatives has directed its committee on NAFDAC to investigate the circumstances surrounding the ban on the production of beverages in sachets and small bottles by the agency.
- States allocation
Allocations from the Federal Account Allocation Committee to 36 states and 774 local governments from July to December 2023, increased to N3.34tn, a 19.5% increase from the previous half-year according to figures obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics earlier in the week.
The bulk of the revenue shared at FAAC meetings comes from oil exports, taxes, and other statutory allocations, with the Federal Government receiving 52.68%, states 26.72%, and local governments 20.60%.
Despite increased allocations, some governors have faced criticism for failing to alleviate the impact of fuel subsidy removal, with complaints about poor infrastructure, rising kidnappings, and insecurity.
Labour leaders and Nigerians have urged state governors to justify the increased allocations by addressing the hardships faced by the masses.
[Punch]
The match officials for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final have been announced by the Confederation of African Football, CAF.
Referee Dahane Beida from Mauritania will be the man in the middle for Sunday’s game.
The first assistant referee will be Jerson Emiliano Dos Santos of Angola.
Diana Chikotesha has been appointed second assistant referee for the match.
The fourth official will be Morocco’s Bouchra Karboubi.
The final on Sunday will kick off at 9pm WAT at the Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Abidjan.
In 1988, Nigeria lost 1-0 to Cameroon in the final, with referee Idrissa Sarr from Mauritania controversially ruling out a Henry Nwosu header for offside.
Former Vice President, Nigeria Football Federation, Shehu Dikko, has given insight into why new Super Eagles first choice goalkeeper and fans favourite, Stanley Nwabali, didn’t feature for the team under former coach Gernot Rohr, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Nwabali has established himself as the country’s undisputed first-choice goalkeeper with his impressive performances at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
While Nwabali’s rise to stardom has come as a big surprise to many Nigerians, Dikko said the keeper had always been under the watchful eyes of the federation.
“Nwabali has always been on the radar of the national team,” he tweeted.
“I recalled in June 2019 during the NPFL Super Six in Lagos and he was on the books of Enyimba FC, we invited Gernot Rohr to watch him as a potential successor/competitor to Uzoho. Unfortunately, his club GM went to inform him that Rohr was around to check on him, thinking he was helping him. But that made him so jittery being a young keeper just getting into the groove but he has always been a very good keeper as he even made the NPFL Allstar team in 2022 for the Budweiser match with John Terry and Roberto Carlos and the home-based Super Eagles match with Mexico in USA.
“Anyway, God’s time is always the best and he has once again proved the talent available in the domestic game.”
On Wednesday, the 27-year-old saved two penalty kicks from Teboho Mokoena and Evidence Makgopa to help Nigeria claim a 4-2 win over South Africa and progress to the final of the 34th edition of the AFCON.
The Chippa United shot-stopper, who is a strong contender for keeper of the tournament, was named Man of The Match for his impressive display.
Surprisingly, Nwabali has only six appearances for the Eagles and was only invited to the national team a few weeks before the AFCON after Nigeria’s head coach, Jose Peseiro, decided to make him his preferred choice ahead of Francis Uzoho, who has failed to live up to expectations.
In his competitive games so far, he conceded just two goals against Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.
Nwabali will hope to continue with his impressive form when Nigeria take on Ivory Coast in the final of the AFCON on Sunday.
1-year-old Nigerian athlete, Favour Oghene Tejiri Ashe, has been arrested on multiple counts of theft and fraud.
Ashe, according to WTVM report, was arrested by Auburn Police on Thursday at his Alabama base.
The report stated that Ashe is specifically being charged with four counts of fraudulent use of a debit/credit card and two counts of theft of property third degree.
Auburn Police initially received a theft report on February 4, 2024, when a victim reported that multiple items were stolen from a purse near the 100 block of West Magnolia Avenue.
A credit card was among the items stolen, and the victim discovered several fraudulent charges were made using the stolen card.
Ashe was transported to the Lee County Jail and held on a $9,000 bond, the report indicated.
Ashe is one of the fastest Nigerian sprinters in history, having run 9.99s in the 100 meters at the national championships in 2022. He however holds a personal best of 9.96s he ran at the semi-final of the NCAA Championships last year.
He also represented Nigeria at the 2022 and 2023 World Athletics Championships and the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he won a bronze medal in the 4 x 100 meters relay.
Ashe is the latest set of US-based Nigerian athletes to be arrested on fraud-related charges in the US, BoldSports reports.
Bold Sports in November 2022, reported how five Nigerian athletes, Toluwani Adebakin, Emmanuel Ineh, reigning African Games 100m champion Raymond Ekevwo, Mercy Abire and Aniekeme Etim were indicted and charged over wire and mail fraud in the US.
Adebakin and Ineh had earlier both been convicted of fraud and faced a possible 10-year jail term after they pleaded guilty to “violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957, for engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activities, collectively sending tens of thousands of illicitly obtained proceeds to fraudsters in Nigeria as part of a larger mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy.”
Abire went on to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and risked 20 years in jail.
Former Nigerian international, Segun Odegbami, has predicted an easy victory for the Super Eagles of Nigeria in their AFCON 2023 final clash against the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire.
According to Odegbami, the Super Eagles have beaten Ivory Coast before in the group stages and that alone should give the Nigerian team a psychological edge.
He added that the Elephants are not as good as the Eagles and have only been lucky to make it to the finals of the tournament.
Speaking on Friday during an interview with Channels TV, Odegbami however, who maintained the Eagles are going to defeat their opponents hands down on Sunday despite the home support, urged the government to provide encouragement for the supporters team so they can counter the Ivorian fans who are sure to storm the stadium on Sunday.
He said, “We have beaten Ivory Coast before; we defeated them in the group stage, which gives us a psychological edge. Also, the hosts have not played well; they are not one of the top teams; they’ve been lucky. It’s a miracle they’ve gotten to this stage; they haven’t earned or deserved it on the pitch.
“In the final on Sunday, it will be a noise-making, vociferous crowd trying to lift their players against a team that should be prepared for no distractions and focused for 90 minutes.
“The Super Eagles play their game against a team that respects us; on the street, the Ivorians know we are superior; we just need to display it.
“Our players must believe, and I know we shall outplay them. It’s going to be our easiest match; it’s going to be a training session, and Nigeria will defeat them hands down.”
He added that, “We’re going to be up against 60,000 Ivorian fans, and they will overwhelm any kind of support we provide. I urge the government to provide support for our supporters; we need their voice. When we score, you see the players rush to the stands because they know how important they are.”
VIDEO: Super Eagles players observe minute silence for Nigerians who passed on during their match against South Africa
AdminThe Super Eagles players on Thursday night, February 9, observed a minute silence for the four Nigerians who died during their match against South Africa on Wednesday, February 7.
An APC chieftain, Cairo Ojougboh, an Ivory Coast based Nigerian businessman, a serving NYSC member as well as the Deputy Bursar of Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete, Alhaji Ayuba Abdullahi, all died on Wednesday night, Feb. 7, while watching the semi-finals between Nigeria and South Africa in the ongoing AFCON.
The players gathered and observed a minute silence in honour of the deceased Nigerians and went on to say prayers for the repose of their souls and for God to comfort their families.
Media
Team Nigeria claimed 11 medals at the just-concluded African Senior Weightlifting Championship in Ismaila, Egypt and earned the praises of Nigeria Weightlifting Federation president Ibrahim Abdul.
Joy Eze rounded off a magnificent performance for Team Nigeria on Wednesday after she scooped all the three gold medals available in the 71kg women’s category. Her three gold haul made it 11 medals for Team Nigeria consisting of six gold and five silver medals.
Eze lifted 104 kg in snatch to win gold and added another gold in clean and jerk with a lift of 130kg, before the weightlifter claimed her third gold by having the highest total lift (234kg).
Eze’s three gold moved her up to the top 12 in the Olympic qualification ranking in her weight class. Rafiat Lawal, Adijat Olarinoye and Umoafia Edidiong are closing in on Olympic Games tickets too with their performances in Ismaila and only the top 10-ranked will make it to the Olympic Games in Paris, France come July this year.
Lawal claimed three gold medals in the 59kg while Olarinoye bagged three silver medals in the same weight class and Edidiong picked up two silver medals in the men’s 73kg.
NWF boss Abdul praised the four weightlifters who boosted their chances of picking Olympic tickets and vowed to chase a record outing at the African Games in Ghana.
“It was a commendable performance from the four weightlifters. They have done us proud and we are all glad with what they have achieved in Egypt,” he said.
“We know the lifters are capable of doing more and we expect them to go full throttle at the African Games with the rest of their colleagues. We expect them to give the signal at the African Games before going to Thailand to complete the job.
“We shall proceed to camp almost immediately as they return from Egypt because the African Games is around the corner and we want to ensure we perform better than we have done in previous editions.”
The Nigerian lifters will participate in another Olympic Games qualifier next month when the International Weightlifting Federation World Cup holds from March 31 to April 11 in Phuket, Thailand, which will be the last qualifier before the Olympics.
D’TIGRESS of Nigeria secured a key victory over Senegal in their Paris 2024 Olympic Games Qualifying Tournament clash tonight in Antwerp, Belgium.
The African champions produced a fine fourth quarter display to edge out their fierce rivals 72-65 in the hunt for a ticket to the women’s basketball event of the Olympic Games in Paris, France later this year.
With both teams to face Belgium and USA in the qualifying tournament, tonight’s game was the potential decider and it could prove that way after Nigeria extended their recent dominance of their fellow Africans.
D’Tigress, who have won the Women’s AfroBasket title four times in a row, were trailing 57-49 heading into the last 10 minutes and had to dig deep to earn the crucial win.
They started the final quarter with an 11-0 run to swing the contest back firmly in their favour.
The African champions were led in scoring by Amy Okonkwo, the Most Valuable Player last year at the FIBA Women’s AfroBasket.
She registered an impressive 21 points and 10 rebounds to steer her side to victory.
To reach the Olympics, D’Tigress need to ensure they do not finish bottom of the four-team tournament standings in Belgium, and the win over Senegal could potentially secure them third place even if they lose to the hosts and USA.
“I am so incredibly proud of my team and I have special group. The game was not pretty, but they stuck together and they got it done,” D’Tigress head coach Rene Wakama said after the tense win.
“It was beautiful as a coach to see them come together and fight back when things were not going their way. This game felt like a Final because we knew what was at stake. But we only just got past this first road block.”
Senegal coach Alberto Carlos Antuna Leal rued his team’s late capitulation but acknowledged the strength of the Nigerians as he looked forward to a bright future.
“It was tough. I think we controlled the first three quarters and played a solid game,” he said.
“The girls respected the game plan and the rules. In the last quarter some offensive rebounds, turnover and missed lay-ups made the difference but I am really proud of the girls.
“I think the future is bright for Senegal. This was my first game as the head coach of the team. We have to remember Nigeria has not lost to another African team since 2015.
“We are focused on next year’s FIBA Women’s AfroBasket and we are going to get to the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup for sure.”
USA defeated Belgium 81-79 in the other game tonight, and D’Tigress will face the Americans tomorrow and the hosts on Sunday.
[NaijaTimes]
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Medical experts in the country have warned hypertensive patients against participating in activities that cause excitement or put much pressure on the heart.
Speaking on the possibilities of what could have happened to those who died while watching the football match between Nigeria and South Africa on Wednesday, consultant cardiologist, federal medical centre, Jabi, Dr. Salau Ibrahim, said the sudden collapse could be as a result of stroke, sudden heart attack or stress induced heart problem.
The cardiologist told LEADERSHIP that age matters a lot and for people who are older and have other problems like heart issues or the kidney, they need to be very careful about things that stress the organs, especially the heart.
He cautioned against anxiety or stress, explaining that anxiety is a form of emotional stress.”
Dr. Salau said the major causes of such sudden deaths are stroke or heart attack.
“Like the two incidents that happened on Wednesday, it could be that they had heart attack or abnormal heart reading. it’s possible they are hypertensive, diabetic and have not been checking themselves.
“So, it’s either they had heart attack or they had cardiac arrhythmia, which can predispose someone to having cardiac arrest. Everything still falls under cardiac arrest.
“Those are he major things. Regular check and lifestyle modification is very important. If you have any background comorbidity like hypertension or diabetes, ensure you take your medications regularly,” he advised.
Dr. Salau said “You can watch football even if you are hypertensive but you need to be sure that your blood pressure is well regulated, and taking your medication adequately.
“Being hypertensive is not a contradiction to watching football but you need to know the status of your heart before you watch that kind of very intense game.
“Avoid watching football among the crowd that can put pressure on you,” he advised.
Also, a consultant cardiologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Dr Ramon Moronkola has linked the possible causes of deaths during the football match to stroke as a result of cardiac arrest and heart or brain issue.
Moronkola told LEADERSHIP that when there is emotional surge, which is a sudden increase of an emotion, many things could go wrong.
“Your adrenaline is pumping and your blood pressure could go up immediately. For someone that has underlying cardiovascular disease that is not well managed, that person could suffer from a sudden cardiac arrest, which could lead to death.
“For example, if the person has myocardial ischemic heart disease, which occurs when blood flow to your heart is reduced, preventing the heart muscle from receiving enough oxygen, that emotional surge could make that person develop heart attack which could lead to sudden death,” he explained
The physician also identified another possibility as having heart failure that is not properly managed, adding that when such a person is experiencing emotional surge due to the match, that could lead to sudden death as well.
He said emotional surge can also lead to abnormal heart beat, which can also lead to sudden death.
In essence, for those with underlying diseases like hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol around the heart area, cardiac arrest is inevitable due to emotional surge as a result of the match, he affirmed.
He said there is another set of people who may not have had heart disease prior to the match, but they have genetic predisposition that made their heart go into abnormal heart beating due to emotional surge, which could lead to death.
The cardiologist, therefore, urged Nigerians to have regular heart check.
“Please go for regular heart check, Moronkola stated, adding that, “Do not wait until you have symptoms or until a problem arises before you go to the hospital. It might be too late, as with the case of Wednesday. If you are diagnosed with any heart condition, please treat it well.
For those who already know their heart status, the cardiologist advised them to control their emotion properly. “If watching the match can make you experience emotional surge, then don’t watch,” he appealed to Nigerians.
Speaking further, he said this is also a wake-up call for the government to ensure that the country’s emergency response system is well developed, the cardiologist stated, adding that, “This involved training everybody on how to do basic resuscitation.
“Government should ensure that places like airport, supermarket and churches etc, where people are gathered should have a Automated External Defibrillator (AED), which is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. It’s a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use, medical device that can analyze the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm.”
In the same vein, consultant family physician at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Dr. Chira Obiora, told LEADERSHIP that people can watch football but they should first of all know their health challenges.
Dr Obiora said if your health challenges get stimulated, watching football will release adrenaline which can cause problem especially if you have a cardiovascular problem.
“It can trigger a heart problem and the person can have heart attack and die. It can even trigger stroke in some people especially if they are not controlling their blood pressure very well. That is why excitement can kill somebody.
“Excitement whether positive or negative, there are hormones that are released. That hormone is known as adrenaline, that is the hormone released when one is excited. It also releases it in anxiety, so what happens is that this hormone, one of the functions is that it can narrow blood vessels and make the blood pressure to increase a bit.
“So if one is having a pressure problem, it can trigger it or if the pressure is not good enough, it can even burst because if it is narrower, the pressure in the vessels will increase, so that is how it stringers heart attack. Even the narrowness of blood vessels can cause different forms of cardiovascular phenomenon to arise; from heart attack to stroke to even the clot in the blood vessel which can even detach and go and block somewhere, it can cause pulmonary embolism or any other thing,” he explained.
The family physician advised that the general thing is for people to go for general medical checks especially as it relates to age and family history. “That is the basic thing,” he said, while stating that someone who is hypertensive can watch football if the person is doing the right thing; controlling his or her blood pressure, doing medical checkup and trying as much as possible to have positive outflow so that the person will not be tensed unnecessary.
[Leadership]
Kelechi Iheanacho Reveals How He Felt Before Taking Match-winning Penalty Against South Africa
AdminSuper Eagles forward, Kelechi Iheanacho has described the moment he had to score the match-winning penalty against South Africa on Wednesday, February 7, as a “make or break” moment.
Kelechi Iheanacho, who was one of the last players to link up with the Super Eagles in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, ahead of the 2023 AFCON, hasn’t started a game in the tournament so far.
The Leicester City forward had not played any minute in the tournament before the South Africa vs Nigeria clash on Wednesday.
During Wednesday’s game, coach Jose Peseiro who is reportedly at loggerhead with the player before the tournament, introduced him into the game in extra time.
He couldn’t help the Super Eagles win the game within the extra period as the match ended in a 1-1 draw and was decided by a penalty shootout.
Fortunately for Kelechi Iheanacho, he was the last among the five players selected to take Super Eagles’ spot-kicks and successfully converted it to seal a 4-2 shootout win.
After the win, Iheanacho told reporters that he felt like the entire country was on his shoulder at the point of taking his spot-kick.
“I felt at that moment, I was carrying the hope of the nation on my shoulder. The penalty was either make or break but I thank God who made it possible for us to go through to the final,” Iheanacho said.
It will be interesting to see whether coach Jose Peseiro will give Kelechi Iheanacho any minute in the 2023 AFCON final against Ivory Coast at 9 p.m. on Sunday, February 11.
President Bola Tinubu on Thursday expressed hope that the Super Eagles of Nigeria will lift the 2023 All African Cup of Nations, AFCON, in Ivory Coast.
Tinubu expressed hope that it’s Nigeria’s turn to lift the trophy, saying, “Awa Lokan.”
The president spoke at an event in Abuja while congratulating Nigerians over the Super Eagles victory against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa.
According to Tinubu: “Congratulations once again on the attainment of victory just last night. It was a moment of joy for every one of us united as a nation and very hopeful that it’s our turn for the trophy, Awa Lokan.”
On Wednesday evening, the Super Eagles of Nigeria had defeated their South African counterpart 4-2 to qualify for the AFCON finals.
The match had ended 1-1 at the end of 120 minutes after which the game went into a penalty shoot-out.
With this victory, the Super Eagles will be facing their Ivorian counterpart in the AFCON finals on Sunday.
Media
Reports have emerged that some South Africans have threatened Super Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, not to return to his club following his heroics against the country as the Nigerian team progressed to the AFCON 2023 final at the expense of the Bafana Bafana team.
It is said that some South Africans are not pleased that the goalkeeper prevented their team from making it to the finals.
Nwabali, who plays for Chippa United in the South African Premier League, has been solid between the goalposts for Nigeria in the 2023 AFCON tournament ongoing in Ivory Coast.
Nwabali gave a superb performance against the Bafana Bafana in the semi-final clash on Wednesday, February 7.
During the clash, Nwabali showed the best of himself as he stopped multiple attempts by South African players. He followed that up in the penalty shootout as he saved two spot-kicks.
Nwabali’s saves were enough for the Super Eagles to knockout South Africa 4-2 on penalties which qualified Nigeria to take on Ivory Coast in the 2023 AFCON final on February 11.
Speaking on Nwabali’s heroics so far in the tournament, former Nigerian keeper, Idah Peterside, said some fans have already told the Super Eagles shot-stopper not to return to Chippa United after the tournament.
He said, however, that there have only been threats, and no violence has been recorded.
See the video.