Nigeria makes 8th historic AFCON third place

(By: William D. Ezah, GNA Special Correspondent, Cairo, Egypt, courtesy Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited)

Cairo, Egypt, July 18, GNA –  Nigeria has won the third place of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) a record eight times after beating Tunisia by a lone goal in the third place match played at the 30th June Stadium in Cairo.

Nigeria, who have never lost a bronze medal match at the competition won it in 1976, 978, 1992, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2019, have also placed second 1984, 1988, 1990 and 2000.

It took Odion Ighalo’s second minute goal, his fifth of the tournament, to hand the Super Eagles the Total Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Egypt 2019 bronze medal on Wednesday.

However, Ighalo left the pitch in tears after he limped off after pulling hamstring as he raced off a counter and tried to make a pass.

Ighalo, would be gunning for the top scorer of the competition, should Sadio Mane or Adam Ounas fail to score in the finals of the competition on Friday.

The Shanghai Shenhua forward stretched his foot to nudge the ball home from a yard out after Tunisia keeper Moez Ben Cherifia and his defender Yassine Meriah both clashed as they threw themselves on the ground to try and cut out Collins Jamilu’s cross from the left.

Nigeria, were obviously the dominant side in the first half, but Tunisia started the second half and came close to a goal just two minutes in when Khazri sent substitute Firas Chaouat through, but the striker hit the side netting facing Francis Uzoho one on one.

Chukwueze came close to doubling Nigeria’s advantage when he picked up the ball at the edge of the box but his curling effort was smothered behind for a corner by Ben Chirifia.

With the game advancing and the demanding nature of the tournament taking a toll on the players, the pace of the game drastically dropped with chances few and far in between.

Substitute Samuel Kalu provided some late flashes of brilliance late in the game barely a minute after his introduction with two brilliant freekicks, both of which were saved by Ben Cherifia.

Nigeria now holds a record of the highest winner of the third place in the competition.

GNA

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