Gabriel Okechukwu’s 109th minute extra time goal qualified Nigeria for the 2018 African Nations Championship last four following a 2-1 win over Angola in a quarterfinal match at the Stade Ibn Batouta on Sunday.
And this has earned the team a congratulatory message from President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Home-based Eagles almost paid the price for lacking the killer instincts but they had to rely on a last gasp goal from Anthony Okpotu and an extra time winner well taken by Okechukwu to book a semi final meeting with Sudan.
There was a terrible blow for Nigeria in the 13th minutes when Kalu Orji was forced from the field following an ankle injury. Timothy Danladi took his place.
On the half hour, Eagles keeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa produced a great save to keep out Calesso Manu’s powerful shot from an acute angle.
The jittery Danladi made a school boy error and almost caused his team to go behind but Ezenwa stood firm to rescue his side. Ezenwa came up twice to trump Calesso Manu.
Angola opened the scoring in a rather unfortunate circumstance as Danladi’s attempted clearance canon off Va and into the back of the net.
Okpotu leveled matters on stoppage time after missing a catalogue of chances throughout.
At extra time, Rabiu Ali fired over the crossbar following a quick break from the Eagles.
Okechukwu turned hero as he made amends with a left-footed shot into the back of the net from the edge of the area.
He almost scored again following a mix-up in the Angolan box but the keeper quickly came off his line to catch the ball.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated the team for their victory.
The congratulatory message was contained in a statement made available to journalists by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
“President Muhammadu Buhari extends his congratulations to the Super Eagles on the spectacular 2-1 win against Angola in the CHAN quarter-finals match today in Morocco.
“President Buhari, who watched the match in his hotel room in Addis Ababa after a long day of meetings which started at 8:00am and ended at 5:30 pm, wishes them the very best for the upcoming matches,” the two-paragraph statement read.
The result has thus seen the Eagles progress to the last four, where they will face Sudan on 31st of January at the Stade de Marrakech in Marrakech.
Sudan booked their semi-final spot following a narrow 1-0 win against Zambia.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
