Dami Ugbane, Special to ESPN 7y

Wasteful Super Eagles reach WAFU Cup final

Nigeria battled into the final of the WAFU Cup of Nations after claiming narrow 1-0 win over 10-man Benin, following Rabiu Ali's 11th-minute strike.

The Eagles failed to put away a plethora of goal-scoring opportunities and were lucky not to have been pegged back by the Squirrels - led by man-of-the-match Charbel Gomez - who tormented Osas Okoro in the Nigeria defense all day.

Nigeria were out of the blocks quickly and deservedly took the lead when Ali netted with a fine strike after a weighted through-ball split the Benin defense. The goal was the Kano Pillars midfielder's second strike in a month against the Squirrels.

The Super Eagles continued to dominate possession, creating chance after chance, but failed to add to the tally, with Friday Ubong and Peter Eneji particularly guilty of wasting decent goal-scoring opportunities.

The Squirrels gradually began to grow in confidence, taking the game to their more illustrious opponents, who continued to have the lion's share of possession.

Koukpo Marcellin was then sent off for a second bookable offence in the 33rd minute, but that didn't deter Benin Republic, who piled pressure on the opposition defence but were regularly repelled by the solid defensive partnership of Emmanuel Ariwachukwu and Olamilekan Adeleye.

Gomez gave Okoro a torrid time, with the Enugu Rangers right-back often the weakest link in the Nigerian team. Plateau United duo, Salomon Junior and Eneji were constantly involved in a competitive tussle for the duration of the game, the former effectively containing the threat of his club mate.

Nigeria nearly had a second goal late on when substitute Gabriel Okechukwu beat the goalkeeper, but saw his goal-bound effort agonisingly cleared on the line by the impressive, Junior who kept the scoreline respectable.

^ Back to Top ^