Sports
AFCON Final: Nigerians dream cup glory
Despite the excruciating hardship across the country, the past three weeks have seen a resurgence of patriotism among Nigerians. They have found a resurgence of hope in football.
A great percentage of the over 200 million people inhabiting the country are striving to survive the harsh economic situation, but the hard times have not stopped the citizens from rallying round their darling team, the Super Eagles, who, against all expectations, are contesting for the Africa Cup of Nations title with hosts, Cote d’Ivoire, in Abidjan, today.
Nigeria has been gripped by inflation with majority of the people living below the poverty line, but that has not mellowed the joy they display every Super Eagles’ match day. Today is one of such days, but the stakes are higher as the reward for victory is no longer three points or passage to another round, but the Holy Grail of African football.
A win today for the Super Eagles will not only fetch them N10 billion, but also give Nigerians something to celebrate and perhaps, usher in a new wave of optimism that it could bring a change in the country’s economic fortune.
Nigeria’s march to the final game of the Africa Cup of Nations have been a pleasant surprise to many of their followers, who derided and wrote the team off before the games began last month. The reason for such low regard for the team is that under the current coach, Jose Peseiro, Nigeria, ranked 42 in the world, had lost to such countries as Guinea Bissau and Guinea and only managed draws with Lesotho and Zimbabwe in their last four games prior to AFCON.
The withdrawals by top players like Wilfred Ndidi, Victor Boniface and Taiwo Awoniyi owing to injury, as well as the poor state of the team’s goalkeeping department were enough reasons to write the Super Eagles off. But here they are, changed in all facets, with a new goalkeeper that has not conceded any goal in open play since the 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea in their first match of the group stage of the championship.
The Super Eagles have had the upper hand in clashes with Cote d’Ivoire in the Africa Cup of Nations. In eight games, Nigeria has won three out of eight previous games, with two draws and two losses.
With the current African Footballer of the Year, Victor Osimhen, in their lineup, the Super Eagles are expected to be too strong for the Ivoirians, who conceded four goals against Equatorial Guinea. But the problem is that Nigeria is not a high scoring side. The Eagles relied on a penalty to beat the hosts in their first meeting in the competition.
Talisman, Osimhen, has scored only one goal in six games, although one can argue that he has been unlucky to have had two of his goals chalked off for offside. The Napoli strongman has, however, been a thorn in the flesh of opposing defenders, with his swashbuckling style earning Nigeria two penalties in the competition.
While they are not a high scoring side, the Super Eagles have made up with a stout defence that has been the meanest in the championship with only one goal conceded in open play. In Stanley Nwabali, Nigeria has a goalkeeper that has brought confidence to the team’s defence and the players now do their job knowing that they have a capable hand to make up for any lapse.
Although the Super Eagles are playing against the host nation, they will not lack in vocal support as many Nigerians, both from home and the countries bordering Cote d’Ivoire, have been trooping into Abidjan to lend their voices to the quest for success.
The players have also been assured that a grateful country will open the cash vaults to reward them if they win their fourth African title today. Already, they have earned a substantial sum from their fans, including the Progressive Governors’ Forum, who rewarded them with N250 million for beating South Africa in the semifinal.
Vice President, Kassim Shettima, who has been leading Nigerians in supporting the team from the stadia stands since the quarterfinals, has assured the team that the Federal Government will host and reward them adequately for their efforts in Cote d’Ivoire.
Shettima will be joined in the Eagles’ corner by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, according to CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, will attend the final at the Alassanne Ouattara Stadium, Ebimpe.
Team captain, William Troost-Ekong, who has equaled Stephen Keshi’s record as the highest-scoring defender in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, has assured Nigerians that the Super Eagles would rather die on the pitch than allow Cote d’Ivoire to beat them to the title.
Troost-Ekong, who is reportedly being courted by clubs in Saudi Arabia due to his sterling performances at the AFCON, has described winning the championship as an extraordinary and amazing moment for him and the country.
“You dream about moments like that. I’ve seen it so many times. And I’ve closed my eyes. To actually be there on Sunday and have the chance to do that will be amazing,” he said.
One of the most assured optimists and believers in the Super Eagles’ ability to win the championship is coach Peseiro, who from the onset has been drumming that the country will conquer Africa this term.
Explaining his belief in the team, Peseiro said: “When I signed the contract, I said I want to win the Afcon. Either way, I don’t know if everybody believed or not. I have believed since the first moment. We haven’t won nothing until now – we want to win the AFCON.”
Peseiro’s mandate is to take Nigeria to the semifinals of the championship and also qualify the Super Eagles for the 2026 World Cup. He has already achieved the former and is now on the verge of adding the cup to the bargain.
But his team will be up against a Cote d’Ivoire side that has been on the ascendancy since they managed to qualify for the round of 16 of the championship with three points.
The hosts were almost down and out of the race after losing two of their three first round games to Nigeria (1-0) and Equatorial Guinea (4-0), but they sneaked in as one of the best four third placed teams after the group stage.
Since then, they have not looked back. Since the exit of their technical adviser, Jean-Louis Gasset, sacrificed because for their poor group stage performance, the team has been a different side under Gasset’s former assistant, Emerson Fae.
Now, the fans, who went on rampage, destroying shops and vans after their 0-4 loss to Equatorial Guinea, have trooped back and are ready to push the Elephants to a third AFCON victory.
Describing the new wave of optimism among his compatriots as magical, former Cote d’Ivoire captain, Kolo Toure, told BBC that the loss to Equatorial Guinea “was a big wake-up call for the players because they saw that fans in the country were really, really angry.”
He said a few things that happened after that game has made the players to realise how important the tournament is for the country.
Toure, who was in Cote d’Ivoire’s last team to lift the trophy in 2015 alongside Coach Fae, said the team has been on a rollercoaster ride since the round of 16, beating such luminaries as Senegal, Mali and DR Congo to get to the final.
“Emerse has brought discipline both on and off the pitch to the team. He has brought tactical discipline because we have a midfield with really good players – Ibrahim Sangare, Franck Kessie and Seko Fofana – but against Equatorial Guinea, I felt those three were running all over the pitch with no discipline,” he said,
Nigeria is the overwhelming favourite to win the title, but Ivoirian midfielder, Franck Kessie disagrees.
“As long as you still have a five per cent or 10 per cent chance, you need to keep believing, because that is what makes football beautiful,” he said after the semifinal defeat of DR Congo on Wednesday.
Although this team lacks star performers like the 2015 set, they have built a unite that is hard to shove aside since Fae took over.
“We need to keep going like this, because you can’t go all the way to the final only to then give up,” Kessie says.
Arsenal overcame the hurdle of a north London derby and an anxious finale to maintain momentum in the Premier League title pursuit with a vital victory at Tottenham.
The Gunners’ meeting with their bitter rivals was seen as arguably the most treacherous of their remaining fixtures, but they took ruthless advantage of Spurs’ defensive flaws to establish a three-goal lead by half-time.
Arsenal were then thrown off course when a dreadful clearance by goalkeeper David Raya presented Cristian Romero with a goal after 64 minutes, the nerves really jangling when Heung-Min Son scored from the spot three minutes from the end of normal time after Declan Rice fouled Ben Davies.
It was all so different when Arsenal went ahead after 15 minutes as the recalled Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg glanced Bukayo Saka’s corner into his own net, the England forward crowning a sweeping counter-attack with a smooth finish for the second after 27 minutes.
Spurs, who saw Micky van de Ven’s goal ruled out for a marginal offside with the score 1-0, were infuriated as they claimed Leandro Trossard had fouled Dejan Kulusevski before Saka scored, and were even more frustrated when the unmarked Kai Havertz headed in Arsenal’s third from another corner seven minutes before the break.
Arsenal were then content to see out the victory, only for Raya to give Spurs hope by sending a clearance straight to Romero.
An unlikely Spurs comeback seemed on when Son scored from the spot but Mikel Arteta’s side were able to close out the game.
Arsenal survive late Spurs surge to stay on course
Arsenal have won consecutive top-flight away games against Spurs for the first time since September 1988 (a run of three under manager George Graham)
Arsenal went from cruising comfortably to hanging on in a thrilling north London derby, a stroll to victory made hazardous by their own mistakes.
The Gunners were never actually near their best but when the season reaches this point it is about winning and the job was eventually done, but not without a nail-biting finish.
Arsenal were sitting pretty at half-time and had negotiated the first 20 minutes of the second half without incident until Raya appeared to be caught in a moment of indecision as he went to clear, passing the ball straight to a grateful Romero.
And when Son scored from the spot Arteta’s side must have feared becoming the victim of a smash-and-grab as Spurs, a threat going forward throughout, sensed they may get a draw.
In Raya’s defence, he did well after his error as he commanded his area with safe handling to ensure the cushion provided by that first-half advantage proved enough.
Arsenal had another stellar performer in Rice, his mistimed tackle on Davies that resulted in a penalty a rare blemish on an otherwise top-class performance.
Arteta’s side have put together three wins in eight days to ensure they are right in this title fight with three games left, maintaining pressure on Manchester City as Liverpool’s challenge falls away.
Sensational Saka
Having scored just once in his previous seven Premier League appearances coming into the north London derby, Saka has come under criticism for his recent form. But the Arsenal forward responded and got back on to the scoresheet during their thumping victory against Tottenham.
In the 27th minute, Saka latched on to a long pass before driving into the box. He then kept his composure, drifted on to his favoured left foot and coolly side-footed the ball past Guglielmo Vicario. It was a fine finish from the England international, who now has 15 league goals this season.
Set pieces strike again
Arsenal have profited regularly from set pieces this season. In fact, before the trip to Tottenham, the Gunners had scored a mammoth 14 from corners – the most in the Premier League. And Arteta’s men extended their lead at the top of that statistic with two more against their arch rivals.
First, Saka whipped in a delightful in-swinging corner into the box which, after pressure from several Arsenal attackers, was headed into his own net by the unfortunate Hojbjerg.
Arsenal laid waste to Chelsea in an absolute thrashing to establish a three-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Leandro Trossard gave Arsenal the lead inside four minutes when he collected Declan Rice’s pass and blasted through Djordje Petrovic at the near post. Chelsea came close from a corner when Benoit Badashile flicked narrowly past Axel Disasi, while Nicolas Jackson’s cross hit the post after a deflection from Gabriel Magalhaes, but they couldn’t find the equaliser, with Enzo Fernandez side-footing wide.
The Blues were reliant on Petrovic at the other end to keep them in it, the Serbian goalkeeper saving from Kai Havertz a few seconds before producing a stunning reaction stop from Trossard’s deflected effort. Petrovic was there again to save from the influential Rice after the break, but he could not stop Ben White from finding the net from a loose ball.
It was then that things really got out of hand, with Havertz racing onto a fabulous pass from Martin Odegaard to make it 3-0 and adding another eight minutes later with a precise finish into the bottom corner. It got even better for Arsenal when White’s attempted cushioned cross flew into the top corner for 5-0, allowing Mikel Arteta to rest his match-winners as the “oles” rang out from the stands. Here are the talking points from the Emirates Stadium.
Some might call it a sliding doors moment. Rewind to the January transfer window of 2023 and Arsenal were trying their best to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk. In the end, they were gazumped by Chelsea, who splashed out the princely sum of £88.5million to sign the Ukraine international. Arsenal reacted by landing Trossard for £27m from Brighton.
With the benefit of hindsight that looks like a bargain. After rifling one through Petrovic inside the fourth minute, Trossard now has five goals in his last nine games for Arsenal – including two in the Champions League. The Belgian has proven himself the perfect utility player and now commands a place in the starting XI ahead of Gabriel
Martinelli.
Arsenal run riot
Thomas Partey was making just his second Premier League start in eight months for Arsenal. And while he wasn’t the player earning the plaudits in the stands, he was the one allowing the carnage to take place in front of him. Partey’s presence allowed Rice a freer role and he clearly relished it, nicking the ball and charging forward at every opportunity.
It was his pass from which Trossard opened the scoring and, alongside the brilliant Martin Odegaard, he was the creative fulcrum, dominating the £200m pairing of Fernandez and Moises Caicedo. Arsenal knew they were buying class when they paid a club-record £105m for Rice and he has gone from strength to strength as the season has worn on.
Odegaard took the award for pass of the night for his ball for Havertz’s first, as well as the chipped ball for White’s bizarre second. And Saka claimed an assist for the German’s second. But it was the sight of Rice running free that really caught the eye.
To Havertz, the glory
Kai Havertz enjoyed himself in the second half ( Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Arsenal fans are fond of reminding people that many observers considered the £65m they paid for Kai Havertz to be a waste. Arteta knew how he wanted to use him – as a No8 or as a No9 – and he is being proven right in some style game after game.
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