Many people on social networks are convinced Nigeria will beat Burkina Faso on Sunday to become Afcon 2013 champions. This follows after the Super Eagles ruthlessly beat Mali 4-1 in their semi-final match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday. On the same day, in another semi-final match, Burkina Faso beat the respected Ghana 3-2 in a penalty shootout.
Nigeria’s win seems to have pleased some fans of Bafana Bafana. Mali beat Bafana by 3-1 on penalties last week. Linda Sibiya of uKhozi FM admitted on his breakfast show that he was pleased by Mali’s elimination. He said: “When Mali lost, I said yaah.., you think you can beat us and get away with it.” This may indicate that Nigeria will have more South African supporters than Burkina Faso on Sunday, which may boost their confidence and improve their chances of winning.
Burkina Faso may have fewer fans after eliminating Ghana. Ghana became one of the most liked African teams after their impressive performance in the 2010 World Cup. They were the only African team to reach the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by Uruguay.
Nigeria will be appearing for the seventh time in the Afcon finale whereas Burkina Faso will be making their first appearance. From the two team’s history in the Afcon tournament, it makes sense to expect Nigeria to win. They were the champions in 1980 and 1994. They came second in 1984, 1988, 1990 and 2000. Burkina Faso’s best achievement in the tournament so far was taking the fourth place in 1998. However, soccer is an unpredicted game which is full of surprises. May the best team win.
