It’s Nigeria versus Cameroon final
Bambanani Mbane of South Africa challenges Ugochi Desire Oparanozie of Nigeria during the Women Africa Cup of Nations match between Nigeria and South Africa 29 November 2016 at Limbe Omnisports Stadium. PHOTO: Sydney Mahlangu/ BackpagePix
Defending champions, Super Falcons of Nigeria, once again defeated South Africa’s Banyana Banyana to qualify for the final game of the on-going Cameroon 2016 African Women Nations Cup, which holds on Saturday.
The Falcons started the game brightly, with forwards Asisat Oshoala and Desire Oparanozie talking the fight to the South African defence, but the Banyana goalkeeper, Dlamini was in excellent form.
The Banyana Banayana were expected to be strong opponents to the Nigerians and they proved just how good they are, as they marched the Falcons toe to toe, creating their own chances in the game.
Mabatle went close for the South Africans in the 19th minute, but she found the defence manned by Faith Ikidi, Onome Ebi, Osinachi Ohale and Ugo Njoku too hard to crack.
The South Africans had the ball in the back of the net just before the halftime break, but the effort was flagged offside.
The first half ended goalless.
Super Falcons’ Desire Oparanozie, however, broke the deadlock 12 minutes after the restart when she powered a free kick beyond the despairing dives of Dlamini to give Nigeria the lead.
South Africa’s Coach, Ellis responded by introducing Thembi Kgatlana, who seemed to have made an impact, as she linked up with Mcgoyi and Linda Motlhalo.
Banyana nearly got the equaliser in the 86th minute, but they had two efforts cleared off the line by the Nigerian defence.
Oshoala wasted what could have been goal number two when she elected to dribble past a defender instead of firing towards goal.
With the win, Nigeria will now meet Cameroon in the final game of the competition on Saturday, while South Africa will face Ghana in the third/fourth play-off on Friday evening.
Cameroon reached the final for the successive time after beating Ghana 1-0 in Yaoundé to set up a rematch with Nigeria.
Midfielder Raissa Feudjio scored the only goal of the match on 71 minutes as ‘Les Lionnes’ deservingly booked their place in the grand finale and continue their march towards a historic first ever title in the flagship women’s competition.
The Super Falcons beat Cameroon 2-0 in the final of the last edition of the competition hosted by Namibia two years ago.
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5 Comments
I watched the game. Oshoala was fouled inside the 18-yard box. It was a clear penalty, but the referee didn’t grant it. The infringement happened around the 85th minutes of the game. Please, Reporter, go and watch the replay and stop misleading readers.
U get Asisat gsm? A jus like dat girl ❤
@comfortdestiny:disqus, You are very right my sister. It was a clear penalty. However, I would have wished she passed the ball to the next Nigerian player beside her. There are a lot of irregularities from the African official referees in this tournament. The referee that officiated the match between Cameroon and Ghana in the Semi-Final match should be asked to officiate the final too. She is a good referee so far in this tournament.
go go Falcons…we are so winning this tournament!!
We are talking about the victory so far recorded but no one is mentioning the flaws in the team. This team seems to have lost the verves associated with Nigerian teams. They seem to struggle to keep pace with opponents and do not show confidence on the ball. Besides, they are always second to balls and find it difficult dealing with ground movements. Their take-ons are faulty but could be improved upon.
Then Oshoala. The coaches must find a way of using her with emphasis on getting the best out of her. She is strong and very pacy. Our undoing is that the entire team especially the midfielders aren’t playing at the same pace as her so when she runs into space of frees herself, the midfielders don’t get the balls to her on time. By the time the ball gets to her, the opponents have crowded her and its making her not to realize her goals. I feel sorry for her because you can see it written all over her that she wants to explode but needs help to do so.
On the whole, its congratulations to the falcons. They however need to be strong to stop the robust playing Camerounians on Saturday.
We will review and take appropriate action.