Nigeria’s Super Eagles will
be at home when they
clash with Les Etalons of
Burkina Faso in the Final of
the 29th Africa Cup of
Nations at Soccer City on Sunday. In football championships, the
accident of fixtures place some
teams at home and some away,
even when the host nation is
not involved. Most of the time,
playing at home means very little. But at times it can confer
minimal advantage, such as
having the first choice of Jersey
and having your National Anthem
played first. Significantly, it has no bearing
whatsoever on the crowd, which
simply decides which team to
support. Of the five matches the
Super Eagles have played at the
Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, leading to the Final, they
have only played at home once. And that, incidentally, was their
first match of the competition
against Burkina Faso, which
fixture will now repeat itself for
the Final match in Soweto on
Sunday. Against Zambia (1-1), Ethiopia
(2-0), Cote d’Ivoire (2-1) and
Mali (4-1), Nigeria were the away
team. Against Les Etalons on
Sunday, they are back at home. Sunday’s showpiece will take
place at the same venue that
hosted the Final match of the
20th Africa Cup of Nations, on
February 3, 1996 between South
Africa’s Bafana Bafana and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia. Then,
it was known as First National
Bank Stadium. The venue also hosted the Final
match of the World Cup on July
11, 2010, between Spain and The
Netherlands. Then, there had
been change of name to Soccer
City. The Final match of the 29th
Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday
will pitch Nigeria and Burkina
Faso against each other, in what
will be the first truly all-West
African Final since Cote d’Ivoire prevailed over Ghana 11-10 on
penalties at the Stade Leopold
Senghor Stadium, Dakar on
January 26, 1992. Cameroon and Nigeria have
battled three different Final
matches (the Indomitable Lions
winning all) and Senegal lost on
penalties to the Lions in Mali in
2002. But Cameroon, despite being Nigeria’s immediate
neighbours to the east, is in
Central Africa. CoachStephen Keshi (pictured right), 51, will become only the
second man to have won the
Africa Cup of Nations as player
and coach once the Super Eagles
fly above the Etalons in
Sunday’s showdown.
Keshi lifted the trophy the last
time Nigeria won it, on April 10,
1994, in Tunisia. Christian
Chukwu, who was captain when
Nigeria won it in 1980, was
handed an opportunity to make history but his Eagles only mined
bronze in Tunisia in 2004. He was
assistant coach when Nigeria
won in 1994. Austin Eguavoen, another
member of the 1994 team, won
bronze as coach in Egypt in 2006. On Sunday, Nigeria striker
Emmanuel Emenike will aim to
become the first Nigerian to be
named top scorer of the
tournament since Jay-Jay
Okocha tied on four goals with four other players at the 2004
Nations Cup, but was given the
award based on a greater
number of assists. Also, midfield ace John Mikel Obi
could be the first Nigerian named
most valuable player of the
tournament since Jay-Jay
Okocha won the award in 2004.
Other Nigerians to have won the prestigeous award are Christian
Chukwu (1980) and Rashidi Yekini
(of blessed memory, 1994). Late Yekini was also top scorer
at the 1992 (four goals) and
1994 (five goals) tournaments. Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo, who
played at five previous finals in
Mali, Tunisia, Egypt, Ghana and
Angola but has only bronze
medals to show, will be a happy
man when the Eagles lift the trophy on Sunday. President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan, GCFR, will sit beside
South Africa’s leader Jacob
Zuma inside the presidential box
on Sunday, but it is not yet
known if President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso will
travel to Johannesburg. If the Super Eagles get past the
Stallions, they will move behind
only Egypt, Cameroon and Ghana
on the number of tournaments
won. At the moment, they are tied on
two wins each with Democratic
Republic of Congo, who won in
1968 and 1974.
Topic: Super Eagles eye history atSoccer City (Read 1193 times)
