Oparanozie’s goal wins AWCON for Nigeria

The Super Falcons of Nigeria have emerged champions of Africa for the eighth time in 10 attempts after Desire Oparanozie’s solitary strike downed hosts Cameroon in Yaounde on Saturday.

Cameroon dominated large swathes of the game and looked destined to break the deadlock as the game wore on. but it was Oparanozie, whose goal earned Nigeria a place in the final in the first place, who popped up to score an unlikely goal six minutes to the end of regulation time.

Cameroon were unlucky not to be ahead in the first half when goalkeeper Alaba Jonathan made a point-blank save, and
the second half was more of dominance by the hosts although the chances they created were not clear-cut.

Prior to the final, Cameroon had not conceded a goal, but they conceded this time and then failed to respond when it mattered most in front of over 30,000 fans who started filling up the stadium as early as four hours before the start of the match.

The Falcons also defeated Cameroon 2-0 in the final two years ago in Namibia, Sunday’s feat making back-to-back victories for Nigeria over their fierce rivals.

To get to the final, Nigeria defeated Mali 6-0, drew 1-1 with Ghana and beat Kenya 4-0 during the group stage of the competition. They also defeated South Africa 1-0 in the semifinal.