IKENWA NNABUOGOR recalls Super Eagles AFCON performances till date in this exciting numbers game
466 – The minutes it took late Rashidi Yekini to open his AFCON account. The former Vitoria Setubal marksman returned no goals in his first appearance in 1984 in Côte d’Ivoire. The goals king fired his first AFCON goal in Eagles 3-0 bashing of Kenya at Maroc’88. Yekini fired his country into the lead in the sixth minute before Humphrey Edobor and Ndubuisi Okosieme completed the rout.
13 – The total goals scored by Rashidi Yekini in the five AFCON finals he attended to become Nigeria’s leading AFCON top scorer till date.
17 – The age Daniel Amokachi was to go into the AFCON history books as the youngest ever to appear in the continental soccer party.
6 – The number of AFCON finals the former Eagles’ captain Nwankwo Kanu without scoring. Kanu’s AFCON romance began when his country co-hosted the finals with Ghana in 2000 through his last appearance in 2010 in Angola.
5 & 47 – The minutes Emmanuel Amuneke scored to help his country beat Zambia to lift the AFCON title for the second time. That was the former Zamalek winger’s first and only appearance in AFCON.
1000 – Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha’s penalty goal in Eagles’ 4-0 win against South Africa was the 1000th goal scored in the history of the AFCON.
78 – The minute it took Asuquo Ekpe to net Nigeria’s first ever AFCON goal in the 6-3 loss to Egypt, then known as United Arab Republic.
7 – The minutes Senegal striker Khalilou Fadiga struck to silence the teeming home fans in Lagos in the quarterfinals of the AFCON 2000 before Julius Aghahowa evened scored five minutes left on the clock. Eagles would later win 2-1 after extra time to advance to the semis.
14 – The number of times Nigeria did not qualify for AFCON. Super Eagles were not at AFCON consecutively on two editions – 2015 and 2017.
5 – The points Morocco garnered to beat Nigeria, Guinea and Egypt to win the AFCON title in 1976, the first and only time the title was decided by point played in a league format. “Green” Eagles finished third with three points to win bronze, the first title in AFCON history.
1980 – Was the AFCON edition which happened to be the first time a foreigner John Orlando, from Ghana, represented Nigeria. The diminutive former IICC defender jersey number 17. Two years later in Libya, another Ghanaian-born player Leotis Boateng also wore the Eagles’ colours.
1996 – Was the AFCON edition defending champions withdrew from the party hosted in South Africa due to pressure from the late General Sani Abacha government.
1998 – The edition hosted in Burkina Faso when Nigeria were banned by CAF from participating after withdrawing from the previous edition in South Africa.
