Africa Football Discussion || Current Topic: AFCON 2025 Qualifiers - CAF.

[Zigabel]

It was quite an interesting game to witness yester night between the super eagles and the bafana bafana who couldn't make it through to the finals as they were stopped by the super eagles just as expected, I knew south Africa had got a very determined squad , not like they had a better team but that determined spirit of wanting to get to the finals was so much in them that it became obvious even in their play on the pitch, in the first half the eagles started off so well that I felt they are winning without a second taught but into the late minutes of the first half and up to the second half they dropped their excellence a little, even after scoring their only goal, the eagles looked like the became reluctant but then they still tried to maintain their defense line.

Unto the finals it's really hard to predict because even if the eagles Will be able to defeat ivory coast in a normal encounter, just like South Africa they are going to appear tough because it's a final game and this is the game that determine the winner and whosever gets to finals always wants to win be it big or small team.

[Distraction]

If South Africa had better penalty takers Nigeria might not have found themselves in the finale of AFCON now.

I must admit that I really appreciated Jose Peseiro's actions on substitutions in this match. Because Iheanacho, Moffi and Omeruo all was subbed in during extra time. All of them scored their penalties after that.    I should also add South Africa became this competitive thanks to Mokoena's last minute goal. But he was the one who missed the first penalty of his team at the same time which must be really devastating for him. 

[Majestic-milf]

Nigeria won Ivory Coast by one goal to nothing it was by penalty. I don't think Nigeria should consider underrating a host of the African Cup of Nations. The host nation has the support of the fans and might be favoured by the officials to please the home fans. The Nigerian side will defeat Ivory Coact only if they can get goals and put up the same quality defending they did in their group stage match.   

 You have a point there. Nigeria will have to do more if they want to carry the cup because Ivory Coast won't want to repeat a loss and will do every thing to carry the cup. For me, I'd say since the quarter finals I've already pitted Nigeria to be the opponents that will meet Ivory coast. They really are not as strong as when there was Didier Drogba and the rest but they should not be taking for granted and even though South Africa were the better side yesterday and their coach is saying we won the game out of luck, Nigeria should not depend on luck or chance or a goal. We should fight like there's no tomorrow.
 Ivory Coast would have been outed from the tournament if not for the fact they were given a chance to come back for the round of 16 due to the fact that they were the best losers so this means they won't want to waste this opportunity. I'm even readying myself to see enough favoritism from the refs towards the host but they (Super eagles) should just keep their heads down till the tournament is over.

[Cryptomultiplier]

It was quite an interesting game to witness yester night between the super eagles and the bafana bafana who couldn't make it through to the finals as they were stopped by the super eagles just as expected, I knew south Africa had got a very determined squad , not like they had a better team but that determined spirit of wanting to get to the finals was so much in them that it became obvious even in their play on the pitch, in the first half the eagles started off so well that I felt they are winning without a second taught but into the late minutes of the first half and up to the second half they dropped their excellence a little, even after scoring their only goal, the eagles looked like the became reluctant but then they still tried to maintain their defense line.

Unto the finals it's really hard to predict because even if the eagles Will be able to defeat ivory coast in a normal encounter, just like South Africa they are going to appear tough because it's a final game and this is the game that determine the winner and whosever gets to finals always wants to win be it big or small team.

I was really into the match yesterday against super Eagles and south Africa. I was praying for the match to not go into penalty but somehow the Eagles couldn't hold their one goal lead till they had to play extra time and then penalties of which they won.
Paseiro made the right changes in the final minutes to bring in players who were very confident in scoring penalty shoot outs and it paid off well as they land in the finals against ivory coast.

It's really going to be a tough final and I am rooting still for the Eagles to come out victors in the end.

[Oluwa-btc]

On February 12 we will see who the winners in this tournament, If we check in the sportsbook both teams have the same opportunity to win based on the odds offered this means they predict the two teams will draw in normal time.

The odds is where you have a face idea of who is favourite. So teams don't have the same opportunity to win but what happens in the field is a different thing entirely. If you look at the odds of Nigeria and South African team, they are not the same and that means one was tipped to win and that was/is Nigeria having odd around 1:30 and South Africa having about 5 plus even though the game changed at the field of play as South Africa really proved her worth dragging the match to 120 minutes and eventually falling through penalties. Despite Nigeria winning, well I didn't expect the match to be that tough especially from the side of South Africa. I think the bunch of players from their home league really helped their play.

However, congratulations to Nigeria for finally coming into the finals of the 2024 Afcon competition and helpfully they are going to take home the trophy.

South Africa off course played a beautiful game in the first half and kept good ball possession to control the game, Nigeria although did come in well into the second half but failed to defend that one goal until the final whistle blew.

The penalty shoot out was the most interesting and yet breathtaking for me, Nigerians did well to win and earn the game as they was the first side to earn them place in the African Cup of Nations Competitions Finals.
They really deserves the trophy, because they've faced one of the toughest sides in this Competition. We've won against Ivory Coast already in the group stage, this would be yet again another win for em in the finals.

[Justbillywitt]

If South Africa had better penalty takers Nigeria might not have found themselves in the finale of AFCON now.

I must admit that I really appreciated Jose Peseiro's actions on substitutions in this match. Because Iheanacho, Moffi and Omeruo all was subbed in during extra time. All of them scored their penalties after that.    I should also add South Africa became this competitive thanks to Mokoena's last minute goal. But he was the one who missed the first penalty of his team at the same time which must be really devastating for him. 

Penalty is a game of luck. Penalty don't really need any form of specialty. All I can say is that the South African team where not lucky in the penalty game. The super eagles goal keeper also showed class buy making good saves. The Nigerian team also played a good game and they coluld have won the game at regular time.

[Frankolala]

If South Africa had better penalty takers Nigeria might not have found themselves in the finale of AFCON now.

I must admit that I really appreciated Jose Peseiro's actions on substitutions in this match. Because Iheanacho, Moffi and Omeruo all was subbed in during extra time. All of them scored their penalties after that.    I should also add South Africa became this competitive thanks to Mokoena's last minute goal. But he was the one who missed the first penalty of his team at the same time which must be really devastating for him. 

Who told you that they don't have a good penalty takers. South Africa players wanted the match to end in a penalty shoot out, because they thought that they are better than Nigeria when it comes to penalty, but they were disappointed at the outcome of the penalty. This was why in the extra 30 minutes, South Africa players was wasting time with the ball in their post, because they do not want Nigeria to win them within that 30mins of extra time.

It was a shock to South Africa when they saw that Nigeria players are better than them in penalty. However, the bafana bafana players relied on their goalkeeper Williams that he will save many penalties but the opposite happened, as he was unable to save just one. Aina played his penalty over the bar. South Africa won Cabo Verde with penalty in the quarter finals, in which Williams saved so many penalties from entering the post, but Nigeria case was the opposite.

[onecall123]

If South Africa had better penalty takers Nigeria might not have found themselves in the finale of AFCON now.

I must admit that I really appreciated Jose Peseiro's actions on substitutions in this match. Because Iheanacho, Moffi and Omeruo all was subbed in during extra time. All of them scored their penalties after that.    I should also add South Africa became this competitive thanks to Mokoena's last minute goal. But he was the one who missed the first penalty of his team at the same time which must be really devastating for him. 

Penalty is a game of luck. Penalty don't really need any form of specialty. All I can say is that the South African team where not lucky in the penalty game. The super eagles goal keeper also showed class buy making good saves. The Nigerian team also played a good game and they coluld have won the game at regular time.

That was a good fight, South Africa, but their penalty kicks were just not up to par. Still, I have to give credit to South Africa for being the only team to take Nigeria to extra time. Penalties can swing either way, but unfortunately, someone has to lose.
Stanley Nwabali emerged as the hero, saving 2 penalties. The Super Eagles showed fantastic skill in their penalties. Super Eagles all the way! Nonetheless, South Africa has truly surpassed our expectations in this AFCON 2024!

[Cookdata]

South Africa off course played a beautiful game in the first half and kept good ball possession to control the game, Nigeria although did come in well into the second half but failed to defend that one goal until the final whistle blew.

The penalty shoot out was the most interesting and yet breathtaking for me, Nigerians did well to win and earn the game as they was the first side to earn them place in the African Cup of Nations Competitions Finals.
They really deserves the trophy, because they've faced one of the toughest sides in this Competition. We've won against Ivory Coast already in the group stage, this would be yet again another win for em in the finals.

In all of the opponent Nigeria has face in this tournament, this is the most interesting one and this is the most celebrated one because Nigeria has met South African in the Semi finals 4 times and has never lose to them, they were ready for Nigerians and Nigerians were ready for them. It took the grace of our players to get Penalty lead goal which was later neutralize by their own penalties as well. The first half of the game was well played by South Africa but the second half after that goal, they weren't making much to score goals but the plan was to lead Nigeria to Penalties which of course favoured Nigeria because of Nwabali.

I didn't watch how Ivory coast qualified to final but looking at the highlight, the goal was by luck, Congo played them yesterday in the second half but Ivory coast were smart to protect their territory until the final time and now they will face Nigerian but they aren't winning us with this mentality. If we manage to lead with 1 goal, it is going to be the end of them in this tournament.

[Gormicsta]

South Africa off course played a beautiful game in the first half and kept good ball possession to control the game, Nigeria although did come in well into the second half but failed to defend that one goal until the final whistle blew.

The penalty shoot out was the most interesting and yet breathtaking for me, Nigerians did well to win and earn the game as they was the first side to earn them place in the African Cup of Nations Competitions Finals.
They really deserves the trophy, because they've faced one of the toughest sides in this Competition. We've won against Ivory Coast already in the group stage, this would be yet again another win for em in the finals.

In all of the opponent Nigeria has face in this tournament, this is the most interesting one and this is the most celebrated one because Nigeria has met South African in the Semi finals 4 times and has never lose to them, they were ready for Nigerians and Nigerians were ready for them. It took the grace of our players to get Penalty lead goal which was later neutralize by their own penalties as well. The first half of the game was well played by South Africa but the second half after that goal, they weren't making much to score goals but the plan was to lead Nigeria to Penalties which of course favoured Nigeria because of Nwabali.

I don't know if it was just my mind playing tricks on me or maybe I'm Nigerian, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who thinks that even the referee and some other folks didn't want the match to end in the favor or Nigeria, I didn't follow up the match from the first half, but I was opportune to join the thrill in second half and from what I saw, right from the first goal scored by the Eagles down to the second goal Victor ( Which was later cancelled and advantage was given to the South Africans). That and other things I noticed while watching the game made me conclude that something fishy was cooking there, but we thank God who was on our side and for using Nwabali to rescue us, because if not for him, the unthinkable would have happened and Nigerians would have returned back home with nothing. Now we've qualified to play in the finals and one thing I'm sure of is that Nigeria can never make it to the final and lose.

[Hewlet]

If South Africa had better penalty takers Nigeria might not have found themselves in the finale of AFCON now.

I find this rather funny! Are we talking about the same South Africa that went on penalties against Cape Verde and did so well that everyone were praying that the Nigerian vs south African match shouldn't end on penalties? We all know that penalties is a 50:50 and that what matter more is how good the different goal keepers are and when it comes to that, they also have Williams who saved them in their last match.

The truth is that they outplayed Nigeria during the official 90 minutes and if they where serious on winning the match they would have made better use of their chances but they couldn't.

Fancy football is good its something rewarding to see the team with the better possession wining the game at the end of the day but in the case, Nigerians needed the win more and the reality is that the bafana bafana team and the whole of south Africa have to set back and watch the Eagles soar home with the cup.

When Nigerian said no free for anybody,  you guys thought we were playing right?

This is our cup so any one that stands on the way will receive wotowoto

[Zanab247]

Congratulations to Nigeria super eagles to qualified for final in the AFCON competition and, it was a strong battle between Nigeria super eagles and South Africa because there must be a winner from the game to know who will qualify for final and who will drop for semi-final.

Nigeria lsuper eagle locked south Africa down for the penalty shootout because, they have a good goalkeeper who knows how to catch penalty very well and it was a surprised that Nigeria goalkeeper achieved the title of man of the game that happened yesterday and, it has added more value to the team and it will give them the courage to face Ivory coast on Sunday and Nigeria will win the trophy.

[knowngunman]

Nigeria won Ivory Coast by one goal to nothing it was by penalty. I don't think Nigeria should consider underrating a host of the African Cup of Nations. The host nation has the support of the fans and might be favoured by the officials to please the home fans. The Nigerian side will defeat Ivory Coact only if they can get goals and put up the same quality defending they did in their group stage match. The host team has improved tremendously and it unwise be unwise to think that the outcome of the group stage game can be used to predict the finals.

Honestly, I'm not too happy and comfortable playing final against the host team. Most of us here are also footballers and we know how well the presence of fans can have impact and influence the game. This is their home town and the stadium will definitely be filled with their fans chanting words of encouragement and any other forms of support. Both teams have met before and they know each other strength and tactics. No one expected both of these teams to reach this stage of the tournament based on their group stage performance. For Ivory coast to reach this stage is a miracle after they were almost eliminated in the group stage, was lucky to be among the best losers and qualified to the round of 16th. Like wise, the Nigeria side who managed to be second on the group despite their average performance.

But Nigeria and Ivory coast change their patterns of playing in the knock out stage and are playing nice football. The super eagle performance yesterday was full of determination and readiness for the challenge ahead. I didn't watch Ivory coast against DR Congo but from what I read, it was too impressive but they were lucky. Sunday clash will determine the most luckiest one among these two lucky teams.

[Huppercase]

Nigeria lsuper eagle locked south Africa down for the penalty shootout because, they have a good goalkeeper who knows how to catch penalty very well and it was a surprised that Nigeria goalkeeper achieved the title of man of the game that happened yesterday and, it has added more value to the team and it will give them the courage to face Ivory coast on Sunday and Nigeria will win the trophy.

Been a long time since I see happiness on Nigerians faces, yesterday was totally different and social media was very fun yesterday. I was having some doubts about that match but I feel like we were rubbed with Osimhen match, when we were two 1 goal away I wasn't satisfy with them score yet but that goal gave me too much hope but that Ref robbed it on our faces after checking the Var. If some of the decisions Var made in Afcon that were made in European leagues, they will say it's unprofessional but we understand and lastly we won and now in the final stage.

Ivory coast are going to face Super Eagles again after the last group stage, the goal differences wasn't much but I want to see us give them atleast 2 goals and if they try, it will end in 2-1. We deserve this Afcon trophy because since this tournament has started, we weren't focus on playing to impress, we played to win even though we have one of the best players in this tournament.

[KTChampions]

South Africa won the previous game in a penalty shootout (with a ridiculous score of 2-1) and it seemed that luck would also be on their side today, but Nwabali saved 2 shots and brought Nigeria into the final. The South African goalkeeper did not save a single shot (the penalty that was not scored was simply a shot above the goal).
Nwabali is great, but in any case it is a lottery and I am surprised that Nigeria could not win without this and even came close to losing.

It wasn't as though South Africa team was that good at penalty kicks, it was just that they they played against a cape Verde team that was bad at taking penalty kicks and it made it look as though the South Africa goalie was that good at saving penalty kicks which was one of the fears of many Nigerians that the game shouldn't lead to extra time thereby ending in penalty shoot outs. But from all that has happened tonight it's obvious that Nigeria was a better side than the bafana bafana boys and Nwabali is better in keeping savings than the South Africa goalie. Now Nigeria has qualified for the finals, congrats to them.

Currently the game between Ivory coast vs Congo is ongoing with a goaless draw at the moment. Any team that wins tonight will be meeting Nigeria in the finals on Sunday 9th.

Well, no matter how poorly the players take penalties, 4 saved shots in a penalty shootout is an achievement that a vanishingly small number of goalkeepers have. And the score 2-1 after a penalty shootout is very rare, usually at least one team reaches the number 3.
In any case, now we have a “regular” final (at least in names) all the outsiders are eliminated and the remaining two strongest teams will determine the winner, at the moment the bookmakers see it like this:

Nigeria vs Ivory Coast 2.78 - 2.69 - 2.94

and game for bronze:

South Africa vs DR Congo 3.28 - 3.09 - 2.23

To be honest, I expected Nigeria to be bigger favorites in the final. As for the game for third place, it’s an easy bet on the outsider.

[Salahmu]

If South Africa had better penalty takers Nigeria might not have found themselves in the finale of AFCON now.

I must admit that I really appreciated Jose Peseiro's actions on substitutions in this match. Because Iheanacho, Moffi and Omeruo all was subbed in during extra time. All of them scored their penalties after that.    I should also add South Africa became this competitive thanks to Mokoena's last minute goal. But he was the one who missed the first penalty of his team at the same time which must be really devastating for him. 

Those South African players are very good they gave Nigeria a very difficult time and there pattern of play was actually very encouraging because there defense system was very tight and Nigeria was finding it very difficult to break especially during the first half but however what surprises me on that match was that from the 20 minutes of the match Nigeria was seriously dominating South African with a very good possession but all of a sudden the South Africans peak form and started playing Nigeria almost half field and Nigeria became pressured so when they scored the first goal they began to show more seriousness than before by trying to defend the goal for South Africans not to equalize.

however everything just change the moment Osihmen score the second goal because they had to cancel the goal and give penalty against Nigeria so after they scored and equalize, the match became tougher, however South Africans had so much scoring opportunities on that match but they failed to utilize them perhaps if it was Nigeria that had that opportunity they would have win South Africans with a lot of goals, actually it was still surprising to South Africans with the way they left the tournament because at first there prayers was for the match to end in penalty shootout because they have a good history on penalty shootout but it was unfortunate for them that Nigerians were more good in penalty shootout than them.

[MAAManda]

If South Africa had better penalty takers Nigeria might not have found themselves in the finale of AFCON now.

The penalty round is really about luck or not, but after watching the entire penalty round, I think I have to agree with you. Nigeria does not have a world class goalkeeper who has a lot of experience, it's a goalkeeper from one of the weak teams of the South African Premiership league. I didn't think he could block those 2 shots .

I must admit that I really appreciated Jose Peseiro's actions on substitutions in this match. Because Iheanacho, Moffi and Omeruo all was subbed in during extra time. All of them scored their penalties after that.

Yes, it's a good change for Nigeria, because the players who come in have a lot of experience in penalties. I wonder, what was the real reason for Jose Peseiro not playing Iheanacho & Omeruo from the start?

[Gormicsta]

If South Africa had better penalty takers Nigeria might not have found themselves in the finale of AFCON now.

The truth is that they outplayed Nigeria during the official 90 minutes and if they where serious on winning the match they would have made better use of their chances but they couldn't.

What do you mean by if they were serious about winning? Those fellas gave their best in order to win Nigeria. About outplaying the super eagles in the match, I don't know if that happened in the first half of the game because I didn't watch the first half, I was opportune to join the game in the second half of the game and from what i saw, bro, the Bafana Bafana didn't outplay shit, yeah they played so well and I give that to them but The Super Eagles were an equal match for them.

I think the Super Eagles had more advantage in the game and they played better, this was proven when the Super Eagles scored their first goal, it was to be further proven when Victor scored the second goal, which the referee cancelled and recalled a past offense that he didn't care to look at at first, I did sense a fowl play there but regardless we still conquered. We all know that, if not for that small Ojoro, the Super Eagles would have settled the whole matter without the need of going to a Penalty shootout.

[QueenVera]

You are right, they have a very strong team and many players from the Nigerian squad are star players from strong European teams so they have the advantage to actually win in the final and also considering that they played against Ivory Coast in the group stage and won them 1-0 it will give them more confidence to play better against them in the final.

We can say all this in our mind but it wouldn’t mean Nigeria will win that day, it will depend on their performance and how highly spirited they play on Sunday. Ivory Coast would not want what happened in the group stage should happen again they will not want to lose to Nigeria again and also they would not want to disappoint their fans by losing in the final on their home soil after making their way to the final.

So far Nigeria have been unbeaten in the tournament and i hope they can end the tournament unbeaten to lift the trophy. As a Nigerian i hope they win in the final and bring home the trophy.

This final is going to be one that will be having massive views as this is one very big final that will be having majority of football fans watching. Yes Super Eagles have gotten victory already in the group stages and getting victory in this stage could be quite easy. The confidence they’ve built over time is one very good one and currently they seem to be the better team of the two. I have high hopes on this Nigeria side to get victory at the AFCON and get the trophy. They’ve a more organized sauad than this Ivory Coast side.

 Nigeria still remains unbeaten and are favorites to win this trophy, so I’m putting all hopes on them to be able to defeat Ivory Coast side in the finals. Yes and that’s quite possible because they’re a strong determined side who’re gunning for victory. But that doesn't mean Ivory Coast are an easy nut to crack, let's not forget they beat Dr Congo that's been in a very good form in this tournament.

[BitcoinHunt3r]

What do you mean by if they were serious about winning? Those fellas gave their best in order to win Nigeria. About outplaying the super eagles in the match, I don't know if that happened in the first half of the game because I didn't watch the first half, I was opportune to join the game in the second half of the game and from what i saw, bro, the Bafana Bafana didn't outplay shit, yeah they played so well and I give that to them but The Super Eagles were an equal match for them.

I think the Super Eagles had more advantage in the game and they played better, this was proven when the Super Eagles scored their first goal, it was to be further proven when Victor scored the second goal, which the referee cancelled and recalled a past offense that he didn't care to look at at first, I did sense a fowl play there but regardless we still conquered. We all know that, if not for that small Ojoro, the Super Eagles would have settled the whole matter without the need of going to a Penalty shootout.

Maybe the point is not to underestimate their opponents because previously Nigeria had beaten Ivory Coast in the group stage well, sometimes the results of the last match between the two teams can have an impact on excessive self-confidence which can lead to underestimating the opponent. One thing that makes me wonder is why are the odds for both teams almost the same? even though we know Nigeria is the favorite here but somehow it seems as if the chances are the same. But yeah the match will start in the next 4 days well, maybe we will see changes when the match schedule gets closer.

The fight for 3rd and -4th place was also interesting between South Africa vs Congo, the situation is almost the same because both teams have almost the same strength. I predict that the winner will be determined via penalty shootout.