7th February, 2024
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Super Eagles of Nigeria on Wednesday defeated the Bafana Bafana of South Africa 4-2 on penalties to qualify for the final of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire.
The match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time, which necessitated shootouts to decide which team qualified for the final.
The Eagles scored four penalty kicks while South Africa scored two.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali was the hero as he caught two penalties to deny the South Africans a final spot.
Earlier, after a goalless first half, Williams Troost-Ekong opened the scoring for the Super Eagles from the penalty spot in the 67th minute of the match.
Nigerian striker, Victor Osimhen who dribbled his way into the box was brought down by a South African player.
Troost-Ekong took a real chance, but his low driven penalty into the middle of the net fooled Ronwen Williams in goal.
Earlier in the 39th minute, Evidence Makgopa found himself in space on the edge of the box and smashed a glorious looking effort towards the right side of the goal, but Nwabili thwarted him with a great two-handed save.
In the 75th minute, Makgopa let fly with a decent effort from the edge of the box that flashed just wide off the right post.
South Africa equalised in the 90th minute of the match from the penalty spot. Teboho Mokoena won the battle of wills and sent an unstoppable penalty past Stanley Nwabili into the bottom left corner.
Six minutes into added time, Mokoena slammed the ball from a mid-range free kick towards the net. He unleashed a low shot that went to the left, exactly where the keeper was standing and he made a great save.