Nigeria pay penalty as SA finish third

Amajita ended their 2019 Afcon campaign in Niger on a high with a victory over their nemesis Nigeria finishing the tournament in third place at the Seyni Kouche Stadium on Saturday.

The teams had to be separated by penalties after a goalless draw at the end of 90 minutes for the second time, having had a similar scoreline in the group stages of the tournament.

However, it was Amajita who emerged victorious this time around, winning the penalty shoot-out 5-3 after South Africa’s goalkeeper Khulekani Kubheka saved the first penalty to give his team the advantage before his Amajita team-mates fired home all their spot-kicks.

Head coach Thabo Senong was pleased with the display by his team and says they went into the match with the mentality of winning it despite having made a couple of changes.

“I’m happy for my boys because they won the match and we played against a very good team,” said the Amajita coach.

“For us it was just to rotate the squad a bit and give some players caps and to approach the game with a winning mentality. We see this as a preparation for the World Cup and we continue building the team going forward.”

Meanwhile, this was the first time in the tournament’s history that Nigeria had finished in fourth place. The seven-time champions twice finished in second place and have finished in third place three times.

This was the second time the Flying Eagles had lost on penalties in the tournament having been beaten by Mali in the semifinals in similar fashion.

Coach Paul Aigbogun was disappointed with the defeat and said Ibrahim Alhassan, who missed the first penalty, had always been a reliable penalty-taker for his team.

“It was anybody’s game, Unfortunately we couldn’t score during the 90 minutes and it goes down to penalties like the semifinal and it’s anybody’s game, but unfortunately we lost,” said Aigbogun.

“I don’t think you can practice penalties. Our first penalty-taker missed and he has been taking all our penalties.”

The Amajita squad are expected to arrive back in the country on Wednesday.