The 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations final was an association football match that took place on 3 December 2016 at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon which determined the winner of the 2016 Women's Africa Cup of Nations. The final was contested between hosts Cameroon and Nigeria in what was a repeat of the 2014 final.
Nigeria won their eighth Wafcon title, emerging victorious 1–0 courtesy of a 86th minute goal by Desire Oparanozie, who also won player of the match.
Background Before the match, Cameroon had reached the Women's Africa Cup of Nations final twice (2004 and 2014), finishing runners-up in all attempts losing both to Nigeria. This was also Nigeria's eighth appearance in a continental final after previously winning in all finals they have featured in.
Cameroon qualified for the final after topping their group where they won all of their group matches. A 1–0 semi-final win over Mali sealed another consecutive finals.
Nigeria, also led by a female coach Florence Omagbemi, topped Group B with emphatic 6–0 and 4–0 victories over Ghana and Kenya before 1–0 wins over South Africa in the semi-final saw them into the final. The 2016 Final was the third time that the two teams had met in the competition's final.
Venue
Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroon. It is used mostly for football matches and it also has athletics facilities. It was built in 1972. The stadium has been renovated in 2016 ahead of the African Women Cup of Nations tournament. It has a capacity of 42,500 seats. It is the home stadium of Canon Yaoundé, Tonnerre Yaoundé and the women's club Louves Minproff. The stadium is also known as the home venue of the Cameroonian national football team, who drew the stadium's record attendance of 120,000 in a football match in the 1980s.
Route to the final
Round OpponentResultGroup stageOpponentResult2–0Match 16–01–0Match 21–12–0Match 34–0Group A winnersFinal standingsGroup B winnersOpponentResultKnockout stageOpponentResult1–0 Semi-finals1–0
Match In front of Cameroon president Paul Biya and the thousands of fans who filled the 40,000 capacity Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium, the hosts had the best of the first half, with a number of chances for Aboudi Onguene, but the Indomitable Lionesses failed to make the most of their opportunities.
In the second half, Desire Oparanozie, who also scored Nigeria's winner against South Africa in their semi-final, hit the decisive goal again when she broke the deadlock four minutes from time after following through on a pass from the tournament's leading scorer Asisat Oshoala to give Nigeria their record extending eighth championship.
Details
GK 1Annette Ngo NdomDF 15 Ysis Sonkeng CB 2 Christine Manie (c)DF 11 Aurelle AwonaDF 12Falone Meffometou MF 19 Agathe NganiMF 8Raissa Feudjio FW 7 Gabrielle Aboudi OngueneMF 3 Nchout Njoya AjaraFW 18Henriette AkabaFW 17 Gaëlle EnganamouitSubstitutes:DF 4Yvonne LeukoMF 5Augustine EjangueFW 14 Agnès NkadaManager: Enow Ngachu GK 16 Alaba Jonathan RB 15 Ugo NjokuDF 2 Faith IkidiCB 5Onome Ebi DF 3 Osinachi Ohale MF 13Ngozi OkobiMF 18 Halimatu AyindeMF 10Rita Chikwelu (c)FW 17Francisca Ordega FW 9Desire Oparanozie FW 8Asisat OshoalaSubstitutes:MF 7Wogu Chioma Success DF 14 Evelyn NwabuokuMF 19Ijeoma ObiManager: Florence Omagbemi
References
External links (archived) (archived) at CAFOnline.com