Nigeria became the first side to book a place in the final of the African Cup of Nations with a 4-2 penalty shootout win over South Africa. The game finished 1-1 in normal time before Kelechi Iheanacho scored the winning penalty as the Super Eagles will now look to win their fourth continental title – and a first since 2013.
The game in Bouake finished 1-1 following a remarkable end to normal time which involved the referee going to his video monitor to disallow a Victor Osimhen strike which would have put Nigeria 2-0 up – and instead awarding a penalty to South Africa.
Teboho Mokoena converted from the spot in the 90th minute to send the game into a goalless period of extra time where Bafana Bafana defender Grant Kekana was sent off late on.
William Troost-Ekong had opened the scoring for the West Africans with a penalty midway through the second half before South Africa’s late leveler.
Nigeria prevail against South Africa once again at AFCON
Nigeria now have a perfect Nations Cup record against South Africa, having beaten Bafana Bafana in all three of their previous meetings in the competition including a semi-final meeting in 2000 in Lagos.
The Super Eagles had star footballer and African Player of the Year Victor Oshimen in their ranks but failed to break a stubborn South African defense.
The Super Eagles finally broke the deadlock in the 67th minute when Osimhen’s driving run was abruptly ended inside the penalty area by a poor challenge from defender Mothobi Mvala.
As in the group stage win against Ivory Coast, it was captain Troost-Ekong who assumed penalty duties rather than Osimhen.
And the former Watford defender sent his effort down the middle and under the legs of Ronwen Williams, the shootout hero for South Africa in the quarter-final win over Cape Verde, as the goalkeeper dived to his left.
With just five minutes of normal time remaining, Osimhen thought he had clinched victory, turning home Bright Osayi-Samuel’s low cross following a swift counter-attack and sprinting towards the Nigeria fans for a celebration that was short-lived. The goal was chalked off after a VAR check. Then moments later, South Africa had a penalty of their own.
Mokoena kept his calm to convert the penalty and deny Nigeria five consecutive clean sheets – and South Africa should have won it in the six minutes of added time when Khuliso Mudau only succeeded in blazing over after Nwabali parried Mokoena’s free-kick into his path.
The Super Eagles now look forward to the final where they will come up against hosts Ivory Coast, who beat DR Congo in the second semi-final.
Sherjeel Malik is the editor at FanHaat with a writing experience in multiple sports. He oversees the editorial and content coverage at FanHaat and writes often around combat sports, football and other marquee sports. A professional highlight of his career was when WWE’s Paul Heyman shared one of his articles on his social media.
Apart from writing, editing and watching sports, he likes to indulge in reading fiction, watching war documentaries and is a fan of Liverpool FC
