Nigeria has qualified for the final of the Champions of Africa Nation 2018. The Super Eagles defeated a strong side Sudan by 1-0 in the semi-final match played on Wednesday.
Coach Salisu Yusuf led home-base Eagles will slug it out with Morocco-the host of the biennial tournament on Sunday for the final.
Super Eagles striker Gabriel Okechukwu hit the back of the net in the 16th minutes to secure the home-base player’s place in the final
The CHAN Eagles semifinal match followed the Morocco’ semi-final clash with Libya earlier in the day to book a place in the final as they won by 3-1.
Despite a cagey opening minutes, Nigeria created a chance of their own. Rabiu Ali sent his shot off target after good work from Austine Oladapo and Dayo Ojo.
A rampaging Mohamed Hisham stole in behind Stephen Eze to latch on to Saifeldin Malik’s intelligent pass but Eagles skipper Ikechukwu Ezenwa was brave enough to pull off the save and hurt his ankle in the process.
Plateau United goalie Dele Ajiboye came off the bench to replace the injured Ezenwa for his CHAN debut.
The Eagles drew the curtain raiser thanks to an excellent finish by Gabriel Okechukwu in the 16th minute. Austine Okpotu flicked the ball to the Akwa United striker’s path and he showed gratitude with a low finish beyond Akram Elhadi.
Nigeria kept pressing the opposition on the high line and soon attacked again. Oladapo delivered a tailor made pass to Okechukwu whose low grounder beat the keeper and narrowly went wide.
Ajiboye was called to action on the half hour as he showed awareness to pull off a save from Mohamed Bashir’s ambitious long range effort.
