Nigeria
captured its long-awaited third African Nations Cup title with a dominant 1-0
performance over Burkina Faso in Johannesburg.
Sunday
Mba fired the Super Eagles ahead with a superb volley five minutes before the
break after a period of pressure saw Burkina Faso, competing in its first
final, succumb to Stephen Keshi's side.
Wilfried
Sanou came close to equalizing for the Stallions midway through the second half
but his brief flash of brilliance was extinguished by a top-drawer save by Vincent
Enyeama.
It
was Nigeria's first final since 2000 but it was hot favorites ahead of the
match against the minnows from west Africa due to its 12-game unbeaten record.
Nigeria's
win means coach Keshi becomes only the second man to win the cup as coach and
player, following in the footsteps of Egyptian Mahmoud Al Gohari.
The
Super Eagles set their stall out early, with wave after wave of attack which
pegged Burkina Faso back into their own half for the majority of the first 45
minutes.
Efe
Ambrose had the first chance of the match when he headed over the bar from Victor Moses'
free kick in the seventh minute before Burkina Faso goalkeeper Daouda Diakite
almost made a disastrous mistake moments later.
Diakite
came off his line to take a ball above his own defender's head, only to fluff
his take, with Brown Ideye's resulting weak shot looping over the bar.
It
was a huge let off for Burkina Faso in its first taste of the competition's
final, after it had previously only reached the last four of the tournament in
1998 where it lost to eventual champions Egypt.
However,
there was a glimmer of creativity from midfielder Jonathan
Pitroipa, who had his red card from the last match against Ghana rescinded,
when he made a good run up the right and drew in four Nigeria defenders, only
for the resulting corner to be easily neutralized.
Nigeria
kept up the pressure, Aristide
Bance wasting a good chance when his low, drilled 25-yard free-kick
flashed just wide of Enyeama's right post, before Ikechukwu
Uche's turn on edge of box was miscued by the onrushing Ideye.
Burkina
Faso was struggling to get out of its own half and Nigeria's dominance told
five minutes before the break, when Mba volleyed past Diakite from the middle
of the box.
After
some good build-up play, Moses' shot was blocked and looped up to Mba, who
plucked the ball from the air to fire the Super Eagles to a deserved lead.
The
goal gave the match a much-needed boost, with Burkina Faso increasing its
urgency and making a couple of surging runs into the Nigeria box before the
half-time whistle.
Nigeria
almost doubled its lead two minutes after the break when Moses played in Ideye,
who was unable to get enough angle on his strike and flashed it across the face
of goal.
Moses
then wasted a golden chance to score on the counter-attack when he failed to
pull the trigger when one-on-one with defender Madi Panandetiguiri.
The
Nigeria defense was then called upon to keep out two testing corners before
Super Eagles goalkeeper Enyeama denied Sanou's powerful strike with a fantastic
diving save to tip it around the post.
However,
Burkina Faso remained unable to find that elusive cutting edge, with substitute
Moumouni Dagano firing over the bar with his stoppage time free-kick in their
last meaningful attack.
Source:
ESPN.com
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