BY JACOB AJOM

When Chinonso Obiozor nodded in a pin point cross off the mercurial feet of Ejike Uzoenyi in the 85th minute of the third place match between Nigeria and Zimbabwe, the goal came as a great relief to the Nigerian bench, a handful of Nigerian supporters on the stands and, in particular, the Nigerian journalists who had banked on the winning mentality of the Eagles to win this one. The win over Zimbabwe came as a soothing balm to the Nigerians whose ego had been badly bruised by the semi final  defeat to Ghana in Bloemfontein.

The 3rd African Nations Championship, CHAN 2014 staged in South Africa wasn’t meant to be an easy tournament for the Nigerian representatives. The journey that began on January 7 when they arrived Cape Town, South Africa with so much uncertainty, ended on February 1 with a bronze medal. By that feat, the Coach Stephen Keshi home based Super Eagles made a very strong statement in their maiden appearance in the continental showpiece.

Against Mali on January 11, the Nigerian green horns began on a deficit, losing 1-2 to their West African neighbours. It was a result that brought them back to reality. “It was shocking to us as we never expected it,” Ejike Uzoenyi who was declared the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, told Sunday Vanguard Sports at the Garden Court De Waal Hotel camp of the Eagles in Cape Town.

*POINT BLANK…….Super Eagles’ Chinoso Obiozor (C) scores against Zimbabwe’s goalie George Chigova during the third place match of CHAN on February 1. PHOTO: AFP

“We talked to ourselves and told each other the truth. As for me, I feared the consequence of an early ouster from the tournament and swore to myself never to give up because if we went out early, this generation of the Eagles would have been condemned and forgotten for ever.”

This, perhaps, redefined the general mood in camp as both the technical crew and players resolved to push further their luck in the competition.

Then followed the second match, which was against Mozambique on January 15th. Like the first match, the Eagles conceded the opening goal of the match in as early as the 10th minute. The Coach Stephen Keshi wards, however, fought back and evened scores in the next minute. Although the Nigerians went ahead in the 13th minute their opponents roared back and evened scores in the 20th minute. At the end of the encounter, Nigeria won 4-2.

The biggest fixture in the preliminaries was that against the host team, the Bafana Bafana. This encounter drew a lot of interests from the home folks who rooted for their team. The Super Eagles were condemned to win the match or risked ouster from the tournament while the South African team needed just a draw to qualify for the next round. The pre-match hype, the general expectations from South African soccer fans and the fear of the fate of the tournament without the home team overshadowed the match. But when centre referee,Mohamed Benzouza signaled the commencement of proceedings, there was no holding back the Eagles. Ejike Uzoenyi was in his element, spraying passes and dismantling the South African defence line with ease. He was the tormentor-in-chief who ended up scoring two goals as Nigeria silenced the partisan Cape Town Stadium crowd with a 3-1 trouncing of the home team. Only Nigerian supporters, who were in the minority could be seen shouting, jumping and singing cheerily as they celebrated the victory.

Yemi Idowu, chairman of Nigeria Academicals Sports Committee said, “With this victory, the boys have made me proud. If they can do any other thing in this tournament, I will consider it a bonus.” To him, the players and their coaches had achieved the unexpected. “We did not expect much from them but this result shows that they can hold their own against any side,” Idowu enthused.

But the biggest feat for the team was still ahead as the Eagles rolled back the hands of history and reinvented the Nigerian spirit which has over the years, been largely associated with soccer. After ensuring the elimination of the Bafana Bafana, the Eagles were pitched against the Atlas Lions of Morocco in the quarter final. In ten first half minutes (33, 37 and 40) the Moroccans made a mess of the Nigerian defence, scoring with ease and aplomb. Two Raja Casablanca players,  Morocco   Moutouali  and Iajou beat Agbim with three quick goals. Again the Eagles fought back to reckoning. The Nigerians defeated their counterparts 4-3 at the end of extra time. Coach Stephen Keshi said he charged his players to “go out there and fight. If they could score three in the first half, we too can. Go back there and play your game.” The boys did not disappoint as they left the Cape Town Stadium like magicians. They were able to recreate the Damman Miracle which saw the Nigerian U-20 national team coming back from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Russia in a penalty shootout in the Saudi ’89 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

But this was not to be against the Black Stars of Ghana in Bloemfontein where the semi final took place. There the stage was different, the support for the Eagles was thin, the pitch and the weather conditions were quite different.
The Ghanaians applied every negative method to deal with the Nigerians. They were rough, they played defensive and applied delay tactics. Technically, the Ghanaian bench adopted a choking method which never gave the Eagles room to express themselves. “We knew the Nigerian team as a high scoring side so we never allowed them to play their game,” Black Stars Coach Maxwel Konadu confessed after the match which his team ended with ten men.