With the 2018 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) winding down in Morocco, the trophy is up for grasp for either the home-based team of the Atlas Lions of Morocco or the Super Eagles of Nigeria, at the Complexe Mohammed V Stadium, Casablanca on Sunday.
A further reward for the winner is a whopping 1.25 million dollars as against the previous 750,000 dollars in the 2016 edition.
Both sides made it to final for the first time, after conquering Libya and Sudan respectively. Morocco won 3-1 against fellow North African rivals, with Ayoub El Kaabi scoring a brace. Nigeria beat Sudan 1-0 with Gabriel Okechukwu getting the solitary goal in the first half of the match.
The Atlas Lions will be counting on their invincible stance and home advantage which has helped them so far in the competition to help them win their first-ever trophy against Nigeria. They had won their group after two wins and a draw and have reached the final without defeat after quarter-finals and semi-finals win over Namibia and Libya respectively. They have twelve goals in their bag so far, and have conceded only two with Ayoub El Kaabi netting eight of those goals.
Nigeria on the other hand started the competition with a goalless draw against Rwanda, before struggling to beat Libya 1-0 in the second group match. A commendable effort from the Super Eagles saw them beat Equatorial Guinea 3-1 to advance to the quarter-finals, against Angola. It turned out a stubborn match, with Anthony Okpotu scoring a late goal for Nigeria, dragging the match into extra time. Gabriel Okechukwu scored the winner in the 109th minute, from a fantastic effort.
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Nigeria Coach, Salisu Yusuf will go into the final, ruing the miss of some of his first team players. Emeka Atuloma, Sunday Faleye and Emeka Ogbuh and goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa, are out of the clash against Morocco due to injury. Midfielder Ifeanyi Ifeanyi also got a red-card in the semi-finals. He will therefore have to rely on acrobatic Oladele Ajiboye in goal, Ekundayo Ojo, an emerging midfield power house and Gabriel Okechukwu, the Akwa United forward, who has risen to occasion so far in the competition, to win the CHAN trophy. Morocco on the other hand still have Ayoub El Kaabi and Walid El Karti to bank on in the final against the Super Eagles.
Speaking on Nigeria’s chances, Coach Salisu Yusuf affirmed that if the Super Eagles will “do the right things”, Morocco will be beatable.
“For the game against Morocco, every team is beatable. If we do the right things, why not! We can beat Morocco.”
Each player of the home-based Eagles is expected to earn about 20,000 dollars as the bonus and allowances should they win the 2018 CHAN in Morocco.
It remains to be seen who will be crowned the new kings of African local national teams.