Sunday said Mba to Burkina Faso on a Sunday

SOWETO, South Africa (AFP) – Nigeria
ended a 19-year Africa Cup of Nations
title drought Sunday with a 1-0 final
victory over Burkina Faso at Soccer City
thanks to a late first-half goal from
Sunday Mba.
It was a result that took winning coach
Stephen Keshi into the record books as
he equalled the feat of late Egyptian
Mahmoud El Gohary by winning gold
medals as a player and a coach.
Among the rewards for the Super Eagles
was a $1.5 million first prize and a place
at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil,
where they will face world and European
champions Spain, Tahiti and Uruguay.
Nigeria were forced into a late pre-
match change when striker and four-
goal leading scorer Emmanuel Emenike
was ruled out by a hamstring injury
sustained in the semi-final rout of Mali
and experienced Ikechukwu Uche took
his place.
Burkina Faso were able to retain the
team that started against Ghana in a
semi-final settled by a shoot-out after the
red card given to midfielder Jonathan
Pitroipa was rescinded when the referee
admitted he erred.
It was only the third time the countries
have met in the 56-year competition
with Nigeria beating then-Upper Volta
4-2 in 1978 and Burkina Faso snatching
a stoppage-time 1-1 draw in a Nelspruit
group game last month.
The Mba goal gave the Super Eagles a
deserved 1-0 half-time lead after 45
minutes that followed a predictable
script with Nigeria dominating
possession and scoring chances while
the Burkinabe relied largely on counter-
attacks.
Mba, one of two home-based stars in the
starting line-up, struck on 40 minutes
with a penalty-box flick over Mohamed
Koffi and a left-foot shot into the far
corner past helpless goalkeeper Daouda
Diakite.
It was an opportunist goal by Mba and
his second of the tournament, having
struck a superb match-winner in the 2-1
quarter-final defeat of pre-tournament
title favourites Ivory Coast.
Nigeria should have taken the lead much
earlier as Diakite spilled a cross on 10
minutes into the path of Brown Ideye,
whose shot at an unguarded goal was
just too high.
A combination of Nigerian midfield
creativity and a couple of defensive
howlers by the Burkinabe offered several
half chances to the Super Eagles that
were squandered.
The early second-half exchanges
mirrored the first period with the
Nigerians pressing for a second goal
that would leave opponents fielding a
lone striker in Aristide Bance with a
mountain to scale.
Diakiate did well to push away a hard,
low Ideye cross-cum-shot and Moses
should have done better in a two-on-one
situation that favoured the Eagles only to
timidly surrender possession with the
Burkinabe goal in sight.
Although Spain-based Uche was a goal-
scoring star of the qualifying campaign,
he was making no impact on the final
and gave way to Ahmed Musa nine
minutes after half-time.
There was another Nigerian substitution
not long after — this time enfored —
with full-back Elderson Echiejile limping
off to be replaced by Juwon Oshaniwa,
while the Burkinabe introduced Wilfried
Sanou for Florent Rouamba.
As the game moved into the final quarter
there were chances at both ends with
unmarked Musa slipping as he was
poised to shoot inside the box and a
Sanou drive at the other end finishing
just wide of the far post.