South African club, Chippa United, said it is rooting for goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, and his country, Nigeria as they prepare to meet Côte d’Ivoire in the final of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Abidjan on Sunday.
Chippa United, the club Nwabali plays for Chippa United in the South African Premier Soccer League (PSL) club on Wednesday, surprisingly lent its support to the Nigerian against its country when the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana clashed in the semi-finals.
Nwabili made three important saves against the Bafana Bafana during regulation time to ensure that the game ended 1-1 and after thirty minutes of extra time, it went into a penalty shootout.
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South Africa failed to convert two of their opening three spot-kicks with Nwabili saving from Teboho Mokoena and Evidence Makgopa.
Nigeria’s Ola Aina threw away his penalty but Kelechi Iheanacho kept his cool to score the deciding kick as the Super Eagles won 4-2 to reach the final of AFCON 2023.
Chippa United in a statement signed by chairman, Siviwe ‘Chippa’ Mpengesi, on Thursday extended its congratulations to Nwabali for his extraordinary achievement in reaching the AFCON 2023 finals and for also earning the Man of the Match award.
“Our support for you remains steadfast. You have represented the Chippa United brand admirably, and we are immensely proud of you,” the chairman was quoted as saying.
“We will be rooting for you in the Finals this Sunday against the host country, Côte d’Ivoire. We wish you all the best.”
Nwabali has kept four consecutive clean sheets in the six games Nigeria has played at the tournament, conceding only two goals with one of those in the Super Eagles’ 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea in their group A opener on January 14 and against South Africa on Wednesday.
