#ThisIsNaija, Where Football Lives: Relieving Super Eagles Impressive Third Place Finish Against Tunisia

Reeling from their surprise defeat by the Desert Foxes of Algeria on July 14, 2019, Nigeria’s Super Eagles on July 17, put up an impressive comeback against Tunisia in their duel for third place at the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) holding in Egypt.

Notwithstanding that the Tunisian side dominated for the greater part of the game, the Super Eagles right from the first kick of the ball, expressed more hunger and a drive to at the very least win the bronze medal, having been ruled out as the likely champion.

Three minutes into the game, defender Jamilu Collins made a fast run past the Tunisian defence into the box and crossed the ball which missed the Eagles of Carthage goalkeeper by a whisker to find the outstretched foot of Super Eagles striker and the tournaments highest goal scorer with five goals, Odion Ighalo, who pushed the ball into the open net.

Although Tunisia did all they could to even the game, notably the attempts by Ferjani Sassi and Ghaylene Chaalali, the Carthage of Eagles failure to score and their keepers save that denied Samuel Chukwueze and Samuel Kalu goals, ensured it would be the only goal before the final whistle in the slow-paced game between the two losing semi-finalists.

Although the third place was considered a consolation win for Nigeria, in all of their defining matches, the Super Eagles showed great display for a team that was not even expected to have made it that far to end at third place. Nigeria would beat the defending champions, Cameroon, and then South Africa team that beat the host and favorite, Egypt.