Afcon Final: The Sleeping Giants Awaken as the Stallions Are Slain

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: February 10, 2013

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Africa Cup of Nations history was made in Johannesburg as Nigeria’s young squad defeated Burkina Faso in the final of the continental centrepiece.

The magnitude was evident to all in attendance in Johannesburg as the two teams emerged onto the field. The atmosphere was, at times, overwhelming. While both sides demonstrated patriotic euphoria in singing the anthems, it was Nigeria who were much more successful at controlling their emotions once the game kicked off. The Stallions, on the other hand, perhaps struggled to find their feet in the early stages, at times looking overawed.

Nigeria capitalised on this uncertainty in the earlier stages, and their ability to adapt to the intensity of the surroundings afforded them the more promising opportunities. The Stallions’ unsettled defence struggled to settle, and looked uncomfortable with Moses’s pace, fluid movement, and inventive creativity.

The player has truly emerged as an international star during this tournament, and success today crowns a phenomenal maiden year of competition with the national side.

Naija also threatened aerially, with Burkina Faso’s keeper Daouda Diakité fumbling and bumbling his way through the early stages of the contest. Both Ideye Brown and Efe Ambrose had chances to open the scoring, but the pair struggled to find a direction for their headers and the openings came and went.



In frustration at being denied the ball, and his side struggling to find composure and fluidity behind him, Aristide Bancé, the ‘Chip-Headed’ semifinal hero, began shooting on site, perhaps realising the need to prompt an improvement on his side. Twice he shot from distance, but on both occasions the ball flew tamely wide.

Eventually, Nigerian pressure told, and finding the Burkina Faso defence in disarray, Moses broke forward. His slaloming run saw the play run out of his control, his sh...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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