Nigeria swept to a 10th Women Africa Cup of Nations
title on Saturday night after a come-from-behind 3-2 defeat of hosts Morocco in
a drama-filled Final in Rabat.
Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses had the full-capacity Stade
Olympique de Rabat breathing heavily after a superlative opening performance
that saw them take a two-goal lead after 24 minutes of the explosive encounter.
Captain Ghizlane Chebbak rifled home a well-placed
shot from the edge of the box in the 13th minute, capitalizing on an
inadvertent pass by midfielder Halimatu Ayinde.
The Lionesses were smelling the trophy 11 minutes
later, when Saana Mssoudy, receiving the ball from a cross on the right, darted
past Michelle Alozie to smash past goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Five minutes before the break, Rasheedat Ajibade
squared into the box as the Falcons pushed forward, but the ball agonizingly
missed three of her team mates.
The Falcons, champions nine times in the 12 editions
that had been held previously, stormed back in the second half with the famed
Nigerian spirit, and started their fightback in the 64th minute when the
ubiquitous Esther Okoronkwo converted a penalty kick.
Vibrant, fit-fighting and energetic, Okoronkwo took
matters into her own hands again seven minutes later, bulldozing her way into
the Moroccan eighteen-yard box and then finding Folasade Ijamilusi who
connected sweetly past the goalkeeper.
The hosts thought they had won a penalty in the 78th
minute when the ball struck defender Tosin Demehin’s hand, but after a long
check with the Video Assistant Referee, Namibian referee Antsino Twanyanyukwa
struck off the penalty award.
The Super Falcons were now in the ascendancy, and it
was no surprise when substitute Jennifer Echegini gloriously swept home the
third goal from another Esther Okoronkwo free-kick in the 88th minute.
Nigeria captain Rasheedat Ajibade was named Player of
the Tournament, while Africa’s best goalkeeper for the past two years, Chiamaka
Nnadozie was named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
Victory earned Nigeria a one-million- dollar prize,
and a successful ending to a Mission X campaign that caught on round the world
like wildfire.
In the event, the Super Falcons decimated all three
teams that had beaten them in the 2022 finals also staged in Morocco.
They defeated Zambia 5-0 in the quarter finals to
avenge a third-place defeat by the Copper Queens in 2022. In the semi finals,
they edged South Africa’s Banyana Banyana who had beaten them 2-1 in the group
stage in 2022. In the final, they defeated the Atlas Lionesses that had beaten
them on penalty shootout in the semi finals in 2022.
They also kept to their record of never losing a Women
AFCON Final.
PHOTO 1: The Falcons celebrate on the podium on
Saturday night.
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