Nigeria vs. Burkina Faso, 2013 Africa Cup of Nations final: Super Eagles the champions of Africa

Echiéjilé picked up his knock a few minutes before being substituted, and it wasn’t immediately apparent how he picked up his injury. He had to leave by way of a stretcher and was replaced by Juwon Oshaniwa, who has not played in the tournament up to this point. He’s one of the domestically-based players in the Nigeria squad and lacks Echiéjilé‘s big game experience, but has played 17 times for his country. The domestically-based players in the Super Eagles team have more than held their own in this tournament; goal-scorer Sunday Mba plays for Warri Wolves and has been spectacular all tournament long.

It took them 40 minutes to capitalize on their superior play, but Nigeria found a goal late in the first half of the Africa Cup of Nations final, and deservedly lead Burkina Faso at the break. They’ve been a class above their opponents and missed a number of easy chances, but Sunday Mba came up with a moment of spectacular quality to break the deadlock.

Ideye Brown set up the first big chance of the game in the 7th minute, though he did it with a dive, winning a free kick on the edge of the area. A good delivery found the head of Efe Ambrose, but he directed his header over the bar when he should have hit the target. Two minutes later, Brown almost scored on a corner. Another excellent delivery was knocked down, and Burkina Faso keeper Daouda Diakite failed to claim the ball. It fell to Brown, who turned and blazed a shot over the bar.

Burkina Faso starting lineup (4-3-3): Daouda Diakite; Saïdou Panandétiguiri, Paul Koulibaly, Bakary Kone, Mohamed Koffi; Charles Kabore, Djakaridja Koné, Florent Rouamba; Jonathan Pitroipa, Prejuce Nakoulma, Aristide Bance

The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations may be remembered positively for the remarkable runs of Burkina Faso and Cape Verde, but there is no escaping the fact that it has been a tournament sadly blighted by a lack of technical quality. In part, this is down to the fact that some of the top teams have had an unusually high number of big names absent from the tournament as coaches have sought to impose ruthless discipline and crack down on any negative influences.

Mikel has excelled for Nigeria, giving performances which probably rank him as the player of the tournament so far. It’s easy to forget how much his role has changed since his move to Chelsea - when a youngster, he was regarded as a flair player, bringing pace, creativity and electric dribbling to midfield. Predictably, the phrase “new Jay-Jay Okocha” was bandied about. Since moving to Chelsea, however, his midfield role was dramatically reduced, made simpler and duller, although it is noteworthy that at Stamford Bridge, regardless of whichever patsy was sat in the dugout that week, Mikel was one of the first names on the teamsheet.