Kelechi Iheanacho may have converted the decisive penalty kick that sent Nigeria through to the (AFCON) finals, however, Nwabalis' heroic usurped the Leicester attackers feat by thwarting both Theboho Mokoena and Evidence Makgopa from (18) yards out to ensure Super Eagles passage to the finals for the (2) time in the last (7) attempts.
Both teams were coming of the back of hugely impressive wins against Angola and Cape Verde respectively with Ronwen Williams the center of attention after saving (4) spot kicks against the Blue Sharks, which in fact, was a record high for any shot stopper throughout the world.
Willam Troost-Ekong opened the scoring in the (67) minutes after a penalty kick was awarded by referee Amin Omar of Egypt who adjourned Mothobi Mvala to have brought down Osimhen inside the box; this was against the run of play as Bafana Bafana were clearly the better team during the first (45) minutes with the Super Eagles struggling to contain their illustrious foes constant running and ball over the top that made our once impenetrable backline look vulnerable for large spells of the game.
Nigeria thought they had goal number (2) to cushion their lead after a scintillating counter attack was buried home by Victor Osimehn, albeit, the celebration was cut short by the referee with the aid of (VAR) which flipped the game on it's head as the goal was not only rescinded, but Bafana Bafana were awarded a penalty of their own after replays showed Alhassan Yusuf clipping the heels of Percy Tau just inside the box. The resulting spot kick was dispatched brilliantly by Theboho Mokoena who sent Stanley Nwabali the wrong way in the (90) minutes to force extra time.
Grant Kekana was branded a red card after falling Terem Moffi just outside the box as he raced through on goal on the (115) minutes of extra time which saw both coaches ringing the changes for fresh legs and potential penalty takers.
The spot kick ended 4-2 in favor of Nigeria as Ronwen Williams had no answer to Super Eagles efficiency from (18) yards as Stanley Nwabali stole the show on a night that saw Nigeria advance to the (AFCON) final for the (7) times in their history were they will play Ivory Coast on Sunday.
©abdulhamid
- Tags:STANLEY NWABALI