RENEWING RIVALRY:Nigeria, Cameroon to face off after semis victories

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

Saturday will be a repeat of the 2014 Africa Women Cup of Nations final edition between nine time champions Nigeria and hosts Cameroon after both teams qualified with an identical hard fought 1-0 win over their respective semifinals opponents on Tuesday.

It needed two special goals from two special players in the second half for both the Super Falcons and the Indomitable Lionesses to beat South Africa and Ghana, in Limbe and Yaoundé respectively.

The final will be preceded by a third place play-off between the Black Queens and Banyana Banyana in Yaoundé tomorrow (5.30pm).

After a frustrating first half, 2014 AWCON golden boot winner Desire Oparanozie brilliantly executed a free kick in the 54th minute at the edge of the box to power Nigeria into their tenth consecutive final.

This was barely one and a half hours after midfield sensation Raissa Feudjio had booked a final ticket for the hosts with a close range effort in the first semifinal at a fully packed Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium.

“We practice free kick taking in training. So, we got it, I knew I would score because it happened to be in my best position. I told myself, you do these things in training why can’t you try it in a game situation.

"I tried and luckily enough it went straight into the net and helped my team win. It was a good goal," said Oparanozie who scored in a similar fashion in their final 2-0 victory over Cameroon two years ago in Namibia.

However, her coach Florence Omagbemi was a relieved woman after winning the match.

“I believe football is all about winning. Sometimes you can have a game that you are not sure of and not impressed with the team’s performance, but you end up winning. Today (Tuesday) was not one of our best games even the players themselves can testify that, but we won,” said Omagbemi.

“There was a little bit of nervousness even with some of our key players in the team. Others got consumed and we were psychologically affected in the first half. Even with the performance, we were able to come out victorious. It is not easy to win a game like this. We are happy to have played South Africa because they have prepared us for the Cameroon game.”

Although Banyana Banyana's Desiree Ellis lauded ‘fantastic’ Oparanozie’s free kick goal, she blamed her wasteful strikers for the defeat.

“We had dominated the game, created numerous chances but unfortunately we didn’t score. It just took a fantastic free kick from Oparanozie to knock us out. But that’s the nature of the game,” said Ellis.

“I think we made wrong decisions while in good areas mostly in front of goal and lost possession too easily. I cannot say we were unlucky, luck only comes when you are in a good position and able to finish. But I have no regrets whatsoever. We played very well and I am proud of my players.”