AFCON 2013 FINAL, Nigeria has shown the way!

The terrific Mikel Obi displaying what he knows how to do best

Is there anyone out there who still doubt that Nigeria is a place where all things are possible, who wonders, if the dream of our founding fathers is still alive in our time, who still question, the power of our unity and strength? Tonight, is your answer. From rocky edge, we climbed out to the top surface of hope formed through determination and national encouragement. Tonight, we have rekindled the hope other African countries put upon us. We are, the giant of Africa.

Who ever believed that the current crop of Super Eagles will be the ones to lift the African Cup of Nation? Not too many people believed this, even at the middle stage when the Super Eagles are fighting hard to lift themselves out of the group stage. Many put their card on Cote d’Ivoire, they called Nigeria little, forgetting that when the chips are down, when the walls are rocky, the only people who stand firm and tall are Nigerians, the cycle has once again been activated towards the power of Nigeria.

The final sure seems like a final, tough, challenging, entertaining and interesting. Something we always miss out in most international finals, in UEFA Championship etc. Stallions of Burkina Faso like every strong and want-to-win country side tried their best, they pushed forth, with tenacity, with eagerness and hope, they played with their might but no matter how hard you try, you will only succeed if you perform better than the other side, which wasn’t the case today.

Burkina Faso fought hard but were ultimately outclassed by the Super Eagles, though they deserve credit for a fantastic showing as one of the surprise packages of the 2013 tournament.
Both sides struggled to find a rhythm of play in the first half, though Nigeria settled quicker and created a couple of decent early chances.

The best fell the way of Brown Ideye, who shot over an unguarded net in the 10th minute after Burkina Faso goalkeeper Daouda Diakite dropped a straightforward ball at a corner kick.

The Stallions’ Aristide Bance, who missed a boatload of chances in the semifinal against Ghana, looked his side’s most poent attacking weapon but his radar was off with two long range efforts in the 25th and 28th minutes.

The match appeared to be headed for a goalless first half, but on 40 minutes the Super Eagles broke the deadlock. The chance stemmed from a Victor Moses shot that was blocked by a Burkinabe defender.
The ensuing looping ball was controlled on the run by Sunday Mba, who then poked it past a defender before firing a left-footed volley into the bottom corner of the net to put Nigeria 1-0 up.

The Super Eagles almost doubled their advantage just three minutes into the second half when Ideye had a neat turn and shot from a tight angle, but Diakite did just enough to deflect the ball wide of the far post.

They also had a couple of good opportunities on the counter attack that they failed to take advantage of, while Burkina substitute Wilfried Sanou drove a first-time shot from a tough angle just wide of the far post in the 74th minute.

In this Super Eagles, we have the team that we need to lift the world cup come 2014.