Odion Ighalo’s third minute goal gave Nigeria a 1-0 win over Tunisia in their third-place playoff at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Wednesday in Cairo.
The 30-year-old forward, who is now the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, was gifted an easy tap-in following a Tunisian defensive mix-up at the Al Salam Stadium.
Jamilu Collins’ cross from the left was poorly parried by goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifa against the legs of defender Yassine Meriah.
The defender tried to stop it from going over the line before Ighalo pounced to give Nigeria a third minute lead.
It proved a costly blunder for Tunisia, who lost Sunday’s semi-final in extra time to Senegal in similar circumstances.
Ben Cherifa attempted to make up for his error with some good saves in the second half.
He first denied Samuel Chukwueze’s left-footed shot just after the hour mark, before saving two efforts from substitute Samuel Kalu in stoppage time.
Nigeria, who dominated the game, have now won the bronze medal at eight different Cup of Nations’ tournaments.
Algeria play Senegal in the 2019 AFCON final match in Cairo on Friday.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Okala, a former Green Eagles goalkeeper, has congratulated the Super Eagles for winning the third-place match saying “bronze medals were better than coming back with nothing”.
Okala, who helped Nigeria to win their first AFCON title in 1980, told NAN in Enugu shortly after the match that the encounter was a very difficult one.
According to him, it was however good that the Super Eagles triumphed at the end of the day.
“Bronze medals are better than coming back with nothing. I must laud the Super Eagles for their commitment.
“They have shown patriotism and love for the country in discharging this national assignment (participation in 2019 AFCON) on behalf of
Nigerians, both at home and abroad,’’ he said.
On the way forward, Okala said that the Super Eagles had to go back to the drawing board.
“The senior national team must take patience to study their loopholes, as well as strengths in the entire tournament.
“Sincerely, we are not where we ought to be in football, especially in African football,’’ he said.
However, not all Nigerian football fans were happy with the Super Eagles’ feat as a handful of them in Osogbo, Osun State says they were not impressed with the senior national team finishing in third place again.
The fans who spoke after they the match said Nigeria’s third-place finishing at AFCON was becoming one too many.
They added that they were expecting the Cup.
Taiwo Tiamiyu, a football fan, said he was reluctant to watch the match as he was yet to get over the semi-final loss to Algeria.
“The pain of the defeat on Sunday is still fresh in our minds and to be honest the tournament ended after that match.
“Though third-place is a consolation for us, but it is becoming too much. I believe this is the eighth time we are winning bronze and it is becoming ridiculous.”
Another fan, Gbenga Alamu, said he just had to watch the third-place match because he wanted to see how the team would play.
Alamu said he was not too happy it was bronze medals Nigeria had to contend with again at this year’s AFCON, saying Nigerians were tired of the team returning with them.
“The players and technical team officials were provided with all they needed for the tournament, and they had adequate preparation time. Funds were also released with further monetary promises as bonuses for wins.
“We expected nothing less than the cup after we got to the semi-finals stage, and not another bronze medals like we played for tonight (Wednesday).
“To be honest, I am not impressed with Nigeria winning bronze again, and this is why most fans did not even watch tonight’s match,” he said.
Tunde Ganiyu, a football analyst, however said the team played better on Wednesday, adding that if they had played same way on Sunday, they might not have lost to Algeria.
“To me, they were a better team on Wednesday, compared to the last match against Algeria.
“All the players put in their best to win the match and I think it was better for them.
“With this fair result from this tournament, I hope this could be a starting point for preparing a more stronger Super Eagles for the tournaments ahead,” he said.
Hamed Fagbemi, a football viewing centre operator in Osogbo, said the loss to Algeria on Sunday affected the turnout of viewers for the third-place match.
“Football viewers were not really interested in the third-place match and this was evident in the turnout of viewers today (Wednesday).
“Normally, my viewing centre was always filled to the brim from the beginning of the tournament during Nigeria’s matches till our last game against Algeria on Sunday.
“But today (Wednesday), only few people came out to watch the game. I believe they became discouraged after Nigeria lost the semi-final match to Algeria,” he said.
