Nigeria vs South Africa live updates: How the Super Eagles won on penalties to reach Africa Cup of Nations final – The … – The New York Times

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Nigeria are through to the AFCON final after beating South Africa in a penalty shootout on a night of ceaseless entertainment. William Troost-Ekong, Nigeria’s captain, put his side ahead with a 67th-minute penalty which had been won following a stunning dribble by Victor Osimhen.
The Napoli star then looked to have sealed victory for Nigeria with a close-range finish in the 83rd minute, but the goal was overturned by VAR and, sensationally, South Africa were awarded a penalty following a foul in the build-up.
Teboho Mokoena converted from the spot to make it 1-1 and the game went to extra time where both teams had chances to win it, before goalkeeper Stanley Nwabili proved the hero in the shootout to secure victory for Nigeria.
Here, The Athletic's writers Carl Anka and Jacob Whitehead analyse and evaluate the key talking points from the game.
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Elsewhere, DR Congo boss Sebastien Desabre, when asked why the players covered their mouths during the national anthem before tonight's semi-final against Ivory Coast, revealed its meaning to the media.
He said: "This was a message to victims in the eastern region of the Congo.
"We need to highlight it and our players are disappointed about this, for all the Congolese we would have wished to give them a smile tonight but we did our best.
"A national team is a driver for the nation’s pride. Tonight it was our duty to share this moment with them."
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It was a big call from Jose Peseiro to take off Osimhen in the second half of extra time, but the Napoli striker isn’t match fit.
Substitute Terem Moffi came on probably thinking he’d have to take a penalty in the shootout, but his first touches of the ball saw him knock the ball into space into the penalty area before Grant Kekana’s tackle got him on his left leg, causing the forward to take a tumble and miss a possible chance.
VAR reviewed the tackle… and then judged the foul to have happened just outside the box. Kekana was sent off. Nigeria were awarded a free kick. So, this dramatic game went to a penalty shootout between two of the tournament’s best goalkeepers, both consulting water bottles with instructions.
Moffi went first and repaid his manager’s faith to give Nigeria a lead they never relinquished and send them to the final. Nobody wants to be the favourites at this AFCON, but Nigeria fans have good reason to be be confident ahead of Sunday’s final.
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Ademola Lookman has been Nigeria’s best player this tournament — but it is still Osimhen who is their most important player. The Napoli striker, who is Africa’s reigning men’s footballer of the year, is the outstanding individual player left in the tournament.
He was a doubt on Monday due to “stomach discomfort” — and was only cleared to travel on Tuesday. After just 30 seconds, the striker stretched to reach a through ball but, virtually untouched, went down holding his abdomen. Nigeria watched on, unease rising in their throats, before Osimhen rose and began to jog.
This has been a strange tournament for Osimhen, who, despite his undoubted class, has looked out of sorts at times. He was struggling with link-up play — having the fewest touches of any player on the pitch at half-time. Osimhen’s solution? Do all the build-up himself. After 65 minutes, Osimhen picked the ball up.
He evaded three defenders before spotting a corridor of space. It was Nigeria’s route to the final. He burst through, provoking a clumsy challenge. Clear penalty.William Troost-Ekong put it away. Osimhen did not score — but battling his stomach, still produced his signature moment of the tournament.
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South Africa have not been prolific scorers in this tournament, with their progress reliant on a defence which entered Wednesday’s semi-final having kept four consecutive clean sheets.
Striker Percy Tau had one big early chance — lashing a ball straight at Nigerian goalkeeper Nwabali on the half-turn. Nwabali, who plays in the South African league for Chippa United, had an excellent first half, making one excellent save from Evidence Makgopa, whose shot appeared destined for the top corner.
No team has had more direct attacks than South Africa in this year’s AFCON — and with Tau finding space behind Nigeria’s high line on several occasions, opportunities continued to fall his way. One notably clear sight of goal, when he was one v one against Nwabali, was spoilt by a heavy touch.
Though Mokoena’s late penalty rescued South Africa’s hopes, there was still a glorious late chance for them to win it in normal time. Makgopa and Khuliso Mudau grew in prominence — and the latter missed an open goal with seconds left after Mokoena’s free-kick was parried into his path.
This brilliant tournament has been a phenomenal example of why you need to play right up until the final whistle. At AFCON 2023, it’s not over until it is over and the final 10 minutes between Nigeria and South Africa was just the latest proof of this.
The Super Eagles thought things were done and dusted when Osimhen tapped in Bright Osayi-Samuel’s cross to make it 2-0 in the 84th minute. A brilliant team counter-attack had led to jubilant celebrations. Nigeria were heading to the final.
But then, a huge twist. VAR had spotted Nigeria midfielder Alhassan Yusuf had fouled Percy Tau in the other penalty area at the start of the move. The referee was called over to the monitor to watch the incident, and you could almost sense more than 200million Nigerians holding their breath.
After a dramatic wait, Osimhen’s goal was chalked off. A penalty was awarded and Teboho Mokoena duly converted for South Africa. A potential 2-0 win was turned into a 1-1 draw in the space of four astonishing minutes.
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Wearing a black cap backwards and closely guarded by a member of Nigeria’s coaching staff, Ademola Lookman tried to sneak past the media and straight onto their team bus.
Yet Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina blocked his path, pushed him to speak, then watched from a few metres away like a pair of mischievous older brothers. Journalists flung their microphones and cameras in Lookman’s direction while Iwobi started cracking jokes.
The situation became too overwhelming and the winger darted off before any questions could be properly asked, giving the reporters a brief taste of what defenders experience when they try to mark him.
Lookman’s reserved persona off the pitch completely contrasts with his electric performances at this Africa Cup of Nations, where Nigeria will face hosts Ivory Coast in Sunday's final.
Read more below…
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(Photo: Getty Images)
Coming up, we'll look at the unlikely 'Starboy' fuelling Nigeria's run to the final, as well as The Briefing, our look at just how the first semi-final tonight went down.
Don't go anywhere.
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What a night of drama, eh?
First, Nigeria and South Africa going all the way to penalties after a gripping, breathless 120-plus minutes of knockout football, before Ivory Coast’s narrow victory against DR Congo.
We’ve been across all of it on The Athletic right here with loads of insights and analysis from my colleagues Jay Harris, Nnamdi Onyeagwara, Luke Brown, Carl Anka, Jacob Whitehead, Will Jeanes and more.
So now feels like a good time to remind you to subscribe to The Athletic using our latest discount offer here.
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Football – wherever it is played in the world – carries a streak of chaos. A low-scoring sport is prone to wild swings in momentum and fans long to make sense of the unexplainable.
Add a dose of national pride and the fraught nature of the elimination format of knockout tournament football, and the Africa Cup of Nations creates a particularly ripe atmosphere for superstition. Fans can shrug off freak results. But a string of bizarre occurrences often leads to suggestions of something else.
At AFCON, that means talk of juju. It is a nebulous and catch-all term, trying to cover an array of practices that do not fit anything found in major organised religions. Be it called juju, voodoo, black magic, muti, otumokpo or something else; there is the idea that AFCON sees players, fans, and even coaches turn to alternate forces to affect games.
Here are some examples:
Read Carl Anka's fascinating piece below.
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Somebody had to pay the price for the Ivory Coast’s horrendous performance in the group stage of this Africa Cup of Nations.
Manager Jean-Louis Gasset was sacked after a 4-0 implosion against Equatorial Guinea, even though they ended up progressing to the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed sides and are now in the final.
Gasset, 70, is from France and has spent the bulk of his coaching career with clubs there before getting the Ivory Coast job in May 2022. So why did the Ivorians hire somebody with no prior connection to their country ahead of hosting AFCON for the first time in four decades?
Are European coaches genuinely better than African ones? Or are there other reasons why they are chosen for these posts? Dive deeper below.
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A woman in a white shirt ran into the road, whipped her wig off and twirled it around in the air.
For the second knockout-phase game in a row at this Africa Cup of Nations, Ivory Coast scored a late equaliser and had to grind through an extra 30 minutes. Against Mali, the host nation had to survive it with 10 men, after Odilon Kossounou was sent off in the first half.
Glasses smashed, liquor spilled and chairs flipped when Oumar Diakite scored with seconds left of added time in extra time to prevent a second straight penalty shootout. Motorbikes flew along the road doing wheelies, chased by groups of children.
Two men walked around with a speaker blasting “Coup du marteau”, the tournament’s unofficial anthem, prompting young and old to shake their hips. Ivory Coast have been on the brink of elimination on multiple occasions at AFCON 2023 yet, somehow, they have now reached the final…
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Thanks to Will Jeanes for that updated AFCON knockout stage graphic.
In the end, two of the pre-tournament favourites and heavyweights will contest the final.
But Ivory Coast are a fairly surprising finalist considering they lost 4-0 against Equatorial Guinea in the group stage!
Ivory Coast will play Nigeria in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final following their 1-0 victory over DR Congo. Sebastien Haller scored the only goal of the game to book a place for his side in the last game of the tournament.
The 29-year-old had a golden opportunity to double Ivory Coast’s advantage just five minutes later, but his attempted lob went wide of the right-hand post. It is the first time since 2015 that Ivory Coast has reached the final of AFCON. They won the tournament in that year.
Ivory Coast, the host nation of AFCON, had sacked former manager Jean-Louis Gasset midway through the tournament after two consecutive group-stage losses against Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.
Former Reading midfielder Emerse Fae was named interim manager and his side went on to beat 2021 winners Senegal in the last 16, as well as Mali in the quarter-finals via a last-minute winner in extra time from Oumar Diakite. The AFCON final takes place this Sunday at Alassane Ouattara Stadium.
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There have been a lot of streakers on the pitch at this tournament and it has happened again.
Somebody eludes the security guards and runs straight towards the Ivory Coast players, jumping on one of them before being dragged away.
Bizarre behaviour but it shouldn't overshadow what a tremendous moment this is for the host nation.
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That's it!
At the Olympic Stadium in Ebimpe, the same stadium the Elephants were humbled 4-0 by minnows Equatorial Guinea in the group stages, Ivory Coast's semi-final victory is sealed.
Sebastien Haller's volley proves the winner and the hosts are into the final!
They will face Nigeria on Sunday evening.
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There is a massive round of applause for Simon Adingra as he is replaced by Jonathan Bamba.
Adingra has got this crowd excited on so many different occasions with clever pieces of skill, mazy dribbles and runs in behind.
He is still young and it will be great fun seeing what he achieves in the next few years.

Ahead of the result between Ivory Coast and DR Congo tonight – the match is, at the time of writing, around the 80-minute mark with Ivory Coast 1-0 up – here's how the knockout stage is shaping up.
We'll update this later…
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Ivory Coast's coaching staff have given a note to Evan Ndicka which has been passed onto Ibrahim Sangare.
Within seconds of receiving it, the referee signals for a cooling break anyways.
Nice intentions though!

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