Nigeria have defeated Zimbabwe 1-0 to win the African Nations Championship third place play-off at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Chinonso Obiozor scored the only goal at the 85th minute to secure the bronze for the Super Eagles.
Zimbabwean midfielder, Masimba Mambare, was shown a deserved red card in the early minutes of the game for a high boot into the shoulder of Nigeria goalkeeper, Chigozie Agbim, a development that made the team played 72 minutes of the game with 10 men.
Few goal-scoring chances were recorded in the game, with Nigeria getting most of the chances.
Zimbabwe’s only ball on target was Simba Sithole’s shot which Agbim held down, as it was a direct shot.
It was Obiozor’s first time in the championship and his pace and strength gave him an edge over their opponent.
On several occasions, he came close to scoring before he headed home Ejike Uzoenyi’s looped ball to get the Nigerian team the only goal that was enough to seal the victory over the Zimbabweans.
Libya and Ghana will lock horns on Sunday in the final match of the competition. It is the first time that Libya is putting up an outstanding performance in a football competition after the 2011 revolution that led to the death of Muammar Gaddafi.