₦airaland Forum

Nigeria’s AFCON hopes have been dealt a massive blow after top scorer Emmanuel Emenike was ruled out of Sunday’s final by a muscle tear. 

The Super Eagles are gunning for a third Nations Cup title after they won the tournament in 1980 and 1994.

MTNFootball.com can exclusively report that a scan has showed the Spartak Moscow striker, who leads the goals chart at this year’s Nations Cup, suffered a thigh muscle tear of the right leg and so will miss the tournament final against Burkina Faso.

A top team official informed MTNFootball.com: “Emenike has been ruled out after a scan showed he suffered a thigh muscle tear of the right leg during the semi-final against Mali. It’s a big, big blow for Nigeria.”

The big, all-action centre-forward, who has emerged as one of the shinning stars at only his first AFCON, has fired four goals, just short of the 10 goals scored by Nigeria to propel them to the Sunday’s championship game.

One of his goals was the opening Group C match against Burkina Faso, which underlined his power-play style as he literally bulldozed his way past his markers to give Nigeria the lead.

The 25-year-old striker has missed training for the past two days and both he and team officials have worked overtime to assure he will be fit for Sunday.

Villarreal striker Ikechukwu Uche and Russia-based forward Ahmed Musa could be the likely replacement for the injured star now.

Uche has struggled for form at this competition since he lost his starting XI role to Emenike, while Ahmed Musa has not been at his most lethal best even though he scored in Wednesday’s 4-1 demolition of Mali.

Musa has been played by CSKA Moscow at centre-forward in the first half of the Russian Premier League with telling effect as he has scored a total of nine goals in all competitions thus far.

He may have struggled with his form but his confidence would have been boosted by his well-taken goal against Mali in Durban.

Ideye, who has regained top form and crowned it with a goal on Wednesday, could also be pushed as top striker with Uche or Musa now playing behind him.

The difference between these two coaches is that while Sisia is a coach,Keshi is both a coach and a manager.He knows how to manage thes boys very well,he handles every rumour or problems maturdely while Siasia was always too vocal.These guys are professionals,you need to manage them well.Can't we see the once coy Mikel now playing out his heart.I think Keshi has this edge in management.

TB Joshua has said that Nigeria will win the Nations Cup or is it another sports prediction?

There is a rumour making rounds that some Nigerians(eg,Dangote)are in South Africa negotiating on bringing the final match live to nigerian homes.We are still waiting for the outcome of the negotiation.What do you think?

What gift do you think will suit the Super Eagles most,from the President if they win AFCON 2013?

The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday at the National Stadium in Soweto pits together two sides who few would have tipped to make it all the way to the ultimate stage of the tournament.

Nigeria, who thumped Mali 4-1 in the first semifinal in Durban, have been the slow burners of the tournament, steadily improving since their opening 1-1 draw with Burkina Faso at the Mbombela Stadium back on January 21.

The Super Eagles, inspired by the attacking abilities of Emmanuel Emenike and Victor Moses, as well as the intelligent control of the midfield provided by John Obi Mikel, have simply overpowered their opponents with strength and speed, racking up three successive wins against Ethiopia Cote d’Ivoire and Mali to reach this stage.

Link to Nigerian players

It is their first appearance in an AFCON final since the year 2000, when they succumbed on home soil to Cameroon. It also gives them a chance to reclaim the continental title for the first time since 1994, back when coach Stephen Keshi was still a player for the national team.

Aside from the superb play of Emenike, Moses and Mikel, Nigeria have also been able to call upon youngster Ahmed Musa, who made a big impact against Mali when he came off the bench in the semifinal by scoring his team’s fourth goal.

Link to Nigeria photo gallery

“I am happy with the goal and the victory was massive for us. We deserved it,” said the Super Eagles’ no.7, who called upon people back home to keep praying and holding thumbs for the final on Sunday.

"My target and that of the team has been to win the trophy, now that we are in the final, it is the trophy Nigerians should expect from us. They should continue to pray for us,” he said.

Burkina Faso have usurped Cape Verde as the ‘fairy tale’ team of the tournament, with their immense fighting spirit powering them to the top of Group C (they finished ahead of Nigeria, remember) as well as victories over fellow West Africans Togo (1-0 after extra time) and Ghana (3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after extra time) in the quarter and semifinals respectively.

Link to Burkina Faso players

Coach Paul Put will be concerned at his team having played two successive 120 minute matches within the last week, as well as the suspension to key player Jonathan Pitroipa, who was unjustly sent off by referee Slim Jdidi in the semifinal against Ghana.

“It was a tough game but we deserved to win even though the decisions of the referee did not match the commitment shown by the 22 players on the pitch,” said the Burkinabe’s coach.

He added, “I am happy with the win but I am more happy for the players and the people of Burkina Faso.”

The Stallions captain Charles Kabore is hopeful that CAF will intervene and rescind the red card dished out to Pitroipa, freeing him to play in the final, though governing bodies are usually loathe to retroactively reverse the on-field decisions of their referees, even if they are proven to be incorrect.

Link to Burkina Faso Photo Gallery

"The referee is human and humans can make mistakes, but he just happened to make too many mistakes tonight," Kabore said.

"We are not going to dwell on that. We can forgive. We are in the final now and we think that Pitroipa should play in the final and that video must be reviewed."

To so many people,valentine's day mean different things .What does it signify to you?

President Jonathan told the Super Eagles.go and do your part,I will surely do mine.What do u think is The part the president will play and do u think it helped spur the Super Eagles?

Less than one hour to go. The tension is building.Predict the scoreline

Burkina Faso coach Paul Put has cast further doubt over the prevalence of match fixing in football, claiming authorities must accept it is a "reality" that "has always existed in football".

Put, who has led Burkina Faso to the semi-finals of the African Nations Cup in South Africa, is currently serving a two-year ban handed down by the Belgian FA after being found guilty of fixing two matches while in charge of Lierse.

But the Belgium-born coach has refused to accept responsibility for his actions, insisting he has been made a scapegoat for the sport's issues, similar to cyclist Lance Armstrong who recently admitted to using performance enhancing drugs while competing.

"Match-fixing has always existed in football," Put said. "If you look at cycling, at Lance Armstrong, it's always him who is pointed at but everybody was taking drugs. It's not that I've been doing match-fixing, not at all, but it has been declared in the media like this. I also played football and I saw a lot of things. I don't think you can change it. It's unfortunate but I think in every sport you have to face those things. That is reality but what can you do about that?"

"I accepted the ban because Fifa said I could work, so I didn't make any trouble in Belgium. It's the same like Lance Armstrong. It's the same. Everybody is pointing at Lance but without this he is the biggest champion. I don't think this is right. You have to see what's going on in football. There are a lot of big international players who are involved in match-fixing. I think it was worse in the past and these teams have survived."

Put's comments suggest that the issue of match fixing is much more widespread than the 380 games currently being investigated by FIFA and Europol.

The 56-year-old believes he was a victim of a volatile football environment in Belgium, claiming he was "forced" and "threatened" into match fixing.

"The suspension was a decision of the federation," Put said. "You always have to make an example for the whole world. We were all surprised because they took only one.

"You know there are more than 40 people. The whole of Belgian football was sick at that time. I was threatened by the mafia. My child was not safe. They threatened me with weapons and things like that. It's not nice to talk about these things but this is the reality."

"I was forced but 'fixing games' are big words," he says. "The team at that moment had nothing. It was in a very bad condition. There was no hope, no money, nothing.

"They made up a crazy story about match-fixing but other teams did the same. You have to see a lot of things and how it came about. It was not by our will. I am not a manager - just a coach.

"This is not a decision of a coach and a player. It is a whole team. If you want to fix a game you don't need 12 players. If you want to fix a game you can do it with one. That's what I don't understand - people didn't speak of the reality."

The blood that has been shed in Enugu is becoming worse than that of Golgotha.

There has been this mix up on Super Eagles midfielder,Sunday Mbah's club.Some say he is a Rangers player and another party says he is a player of Warri Wolves.Can there be a clarification please.

I can still remember vividly what transpired in World Cup in 1998(France'98).Super Eagles were so spectacular in theor group games even beating a star studded Spainish team.Our song was sang all over the world as the next team to beat Brazil when we have not yet played against Denmark,the humble opponents.The climax of the story is that Super Eagles were humiliated by foru goals to one by the Danish team.The same story seem to be cropping up again.We beat a golden generation of Ivorian team,our song is everywhere,six governors wnat to be present at the semi final game,the press and even Drogba are singing our song.I want to beg the Super Eagles to avoid all these distractions and take Mali the way they took the Ivorians.They same people that praised them today,even those six governors will call for their heads if they go wrong.We shld stop this pressure and keep them on their toes till the battle is won,and those Governors should sit down in their states and allow the boys do their job without pressure.Let's not allow the ghost of France '98 to come and haunt us again.

I don't know if anyone has had this experience I had in KFC,Ikeja GRA outlet.I went there to pick up a pack of chicken with some friends.we paid for a pack and they attendant keyed in 7pieces of chicken in the machine and we asked why they are charging of for 7pieces when it was actually 6 that they packaged for us,no reason was given for such.After confrontations,we paid for the 6pieces for the price of 7pieces and left.I know many Nigerians are being cheated by the same method daily without taking note.I want to ask if the piece that missed from the pack is the way the attendants steal out their own chicken or what?please guys,watch out when u visit KFC ikeja GRA

God has a special place for Nigeria,if only we can keep working hard and believing