Benguela — Nigeria breathed a heavy sigh of relief on Saturday after a first-half penalty from Yakubu Aiyegbeni proved enough to hand them a win over Benin in their Group C match.
The 1-0 victory marked the first points of the tournament for the Super Eagles, but they had to work hard for their haul against a gallant opponent.
The derby match pitted the considerable resources of Nigeria, complete with their internationally-based superstars, against the journeyman professionals of Benin, but at no stage was this a one-sided contest.
Indeed, Benin pegged back Nigeria for a large part of the second half as they sought an equaliser after going down to a penalty just three minutes before half-time.
A handball from Romauld Boco proved the pivotal moment of the match and a tragic way for the Beninoise to lose the game.
They twice hit the woodwork with a stinging first-half shot from Stephane Sessegnon and then an angled effort in the second half by Nouhoum Kobena.
The tricky play of Mouri Ogunbiyi and bulldozer-like efforts upfront from Razak Omotoyossi, both Nigerian-born players, also deserved more reward. But try as they might, there was just no way through for Benin.
Benin's coach Michel Dussuyer said a win over Nigeria would have been a dream "but the difference between the dream and reality for us was the crossbar."
Nigeria did have chances to make the match a lot more secure but there was woeful miss after 15 minutes from Aiyegbeni and some poor shooting by Kalu Uche.
Uche's pass set Aiyegbeni up for an easy tap-in but somehow he contrived to steer it wide of the post. It was an embarrassing fluff from the Everton striker, who ended up being taken off early in the second half, albeit after having scored the game's only goal.
Nigeria made four changes to their starting line-up and coach Shaibu Amodu, under considerable pressure after Nigeria were beaten 3-1 by Egypt on Tuesday, will have been pleased with the effort of Danny Shittu, who was workmanlike in defence and enterprising on the attack.
But Nigeria still did not make enough chances to give any credence to the assertions by their right wing, Peter Odemwingie, afterwards that they would grow game by game in the tournament and that they had the capacity to end up as African champions on February 1.
Perhaps Amodu had it right when he said: "We did come into this game with a crisis of confidence in our camp and we had to tread carefully. The most important is the three points."
