Nigeria beat South Africa to reach AFCON final in penalty shootout thriller

Kelechi Iheanacho replaced the scorer to help Nigeria win a penalty shootout of 4-2 against South Africa in a thrilling Africa Cup of Nations semi-final held in Bouake on Wednesday.

Published on: February 7, 2024 at 9:36 pm The following is an updated news article about the current situation: As of now, we are presenting to you an up-to-date report on the ongoing circumstances.

The game ended in a draw of 1-1 after additional playing time. The team that has won the championship three times will compete against the winner of the match between Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo, who will face each other later. The final match will be held on Sunday.

The two goals during normal play were scored due to penalty kicks. Nigeria's captain, William Troost-Ekong, scored the first goal in the 67th minute. Teboho Mokoena then scored the equalizing goal in the 90th minute from another penalty kick.

Nigeria believed they had achieved their second goal through a simple goal scored by their star striker Victor Osimhen, but the Mokoena equaliser quickly followed.

However, the game was stopped and shifted to the opposite side of the field due to VAR notifying the Egyptian referee that South African player Percy Tau was unlawfully tackled in the penalty area. The referee agreed with the VAR decision.

During the end of the regular time, Khuliso Mudau had an opportunity to secure a victory for South Africa. Unfortunately, Mudau missed the chance by shooting the ball over the bar after a save by goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali following a Mokoena free kick.

On the 115th minute of the game, South Africa's Grant Kekana was shown a red card after committing a foul as the last defender. This resulted in their team playing with only 10 players until the end of the match.

Nigeria had an undefeated record against South Africa in the top African soccer tournament with three previous triumphs before the match.

The Nigerian national football team, also known as the Super Eagles, have emerged victorious against the South African national football team, nicknamed Bafana Bafana or The Boys, on multiple occasions. They defeated them with a score of 2-0 during a semi-final in 2000 held in Nigeria, followed by a 4-0 win in a group match in Tunisia four years later, and most recently with a score of 2-1 in a quarter-final match held in Egypt in 2019.

José Peseiro, the coach of Nigeria, decided to swap out Zaidu Sanusi and instead insert Bright Osayi-Samuel in the team for their latest match against Angola. Sanusi had missed training the day before. This was the only modification made to the winning team that had beaten Angola 1-0.

Star forward Osimhen of Napoli kicked off for the three-time champions after overcoming an abdominal discomfort that caused a delay in his journey from Abidjan to Bouake.

There were Nigerians at the stadium who showed their backing for Osimhen by wearing copies of the special mask he still wears three years after having an injury to his eye socket.

After triumphing over Cape Verde in a penalty shootout, South African coach Hugo Broos, who originally hails from Belgium, decided to switch up his team for the next game. He brought back central defender Siyanda Xulu and benched Thapelo Morena.

In the first half of the game, South Africa had the same amount of shots as their opponents. However, they managed to hit the target more often and had more control of the ball. They also had more opportunities to take corner kicks, making it a thrilling and intense first half.

Only 60 seconds into the start of the game, Osimhen, who is currently the champion of African Player of the Year, fell to his knees holding onto his stomach. However, he persisted in playing after receiving medical attention and put in a lot of effort throughout the game.

During the pre-match, Nigeria team was considered the favorite one. They were given a free-kick, and Semi Ajayi took the header, but it was not very powerful, and goalkeeper Ronwen Williams easily caught it. Williams, who had previously saved four shootout penalties against Cape Verde, made the save look effortless.

Percy Tau had a few opportunities to score for South Africa, yet a feeble attempt and afterwards a blunder with his initial touch caused him to falter, much to the disappointment of the 32,000 spectators present.

As the first half was coming to a close, Stanley Nwabali, the goalkeeper from Nigeria who is a player in Chippa United, a South African top-league club, made a solid save by using one hand to stop Evidence Makgopa's attempt at a goal.

As the Super Eagles were gaining momentum, the score was finally broken in the middle of the second half when Osimhen was fouled by Mothobi Mvala, resulting in Troost-Ekong successfully scoring the penalty.

With only 15 minutes left on the clock, Makgopa tried to score a goal to level the score for South Africa in the heart of Ivory Coast, but he missed the target by just a little bit.

Next up was the Osimhen goal that was not allowed, followed by Mokoena's equalizer, Mudau's missed opportunity, and half an hour of intense extra-time play with back-and-forth action, which ultimately led to Kekana receiving a red card. Finally, the match was determined by a penalty shootout.