The Super Eagles on Sunday surprised Nigerians as they defeated the Stallions of Burkina Faso with a lone goal which was scored by Sunday Mba to clinch the 2013 African Cup of Nation (AFCON). The Super Eagles who were not given the chance to qualify for the semi-final, proved football fans wrong when they walloped the Malian side 4-1 to quality for the final stage of the competition. With this victory, Nigeria has won the African Cup of Nations three times. Nigeria won the tournament for the first time in 1980 when Christian Chukwu was the captain of the Green Eagles as the Nigerian national team was called then. Nigeria repeated the same feat in 1994 when Stephen Keshi was the captain of the team. The name of the Green Eagles was changed to Super Eagles as a result of winning the African Cup of Nations in 1994.
Thus, with this victory, Stephen Keshi has become the first indigenous coach to have won the African Cup of Nations and the second African to have won the tournament as a player and a coach, coming behind late Mahmoud El-Gohary of Egypt.
President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, showered the members of the winning Super Eagles with various gifts. Each of the players and the three assistant coaches was given N5m while the Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, got N10m. Members of the technical team were given N2m each. The players and the officials were given a plot of land each in Abuja. Keshi was conferred with the national honour of the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) while his three assistants and the team captain, Joseph Yobo bagged Officer of the Order of Nigeria (OON). Other players in the team got Member of the Order of Niger (MON). President Jonathan made the announcement amidst jubilation from the lucky players during a state dinner he organized in their honour at the President Villa, Abuja, few hours after their arrival in the country.
Aliko Dangote donated N5m to each player and each of the technical crew while the former managing director of Zenith Bank PLC, Jim Ovia and Tony Elumelu donated half a million dollars each to the Super Eagles. Business tycoon and owner of Globacom, Chief Mike Adenuga, gave $1m dollars to the Super Eagles and $200,000 to coach Stephen Keshi.
LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT HOSTS SUPER EAGLES
The Lagos State Government was not left out of the gift galore as it showered the Super Eagles with N545m. From the Lagos State Government largesse, each of the players got N1m while the team captain, Joseph Yobo got N1.5m and goal scorer got N500,000 for each goal scored. The Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, got N2.5m, Assistant Coach, Danial Omokachi received N2m, the four assistant coaches got N1.5m each and the eleven back room staff got N15m. The Supporters Club had N4.5m. President Jonathan had earlier given them N5m.
GOVERNOR UDUAGHAN RECEIVES SUPER EAGLES
The Delta State Government in the euphoria of the victory of the Super Eagles, has renamed the Asaba Township Stadium after Coach Stephen Keshi and a cash gift of N8 m and a plot of land in Asaba with a promise to assist to build a duplex on the land. The four assistant coaches got N4m each while each player received N2.5m. In addition, each past and present player in the winning team received N2.5m but players of Delta State origin got extra N2.5m each. The Super Eagles Supporters Club got N3 m while the state-funded Warri Wolves Football Club got N5m.
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