Nwabali Equals Ogedegbe’s 44-Year AFCON Record

In-form Super Eagles goalkeeper, Stanley Nwabali, has equalled former shot stopper Best Ogedegbe’s 44-year record after keeping another clean sheet in Nigeria’s 1-0 quarter-finals win over Angola at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

The Eagles beat the Palancas Negras on Friday to progress to the semi-finals of the 34th edition of the AFCON as they continued their quest to win the tournament for the fourth time, having done so in 1980, 1994 and 2013.

After keeping another clean sheet against the Angolans, the 27-year-old becomes the first Eagles goalkeeper to keep four consecutive clean sheets in a major tourney in 44 years, surpassing Alloy Agu’s three games in a row in 1990.

The last shot stopper to keep four consecutive clean shots in a tournament in Eagles jersey was Ogedegbe in 1980, when the team won their first continental title.

The late keeper kept two consecutive clean sheets against Ivory Coast and Egypt in the group stage, having conceded once in their 3-1 win over Tanzania in their opening game.

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He kept another clean sheet against Morocco in the semis, before another 3-0 win over Algeria in the final.

Nwabali, just like Ogedegbe, conceded a goal in the opening game against Equatorial Guinea and had not been beaten afterwards, keeping clean sheets against Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon and Angola.

The Chippa United goalkeeper will hope to own the record outright when the Eagles face the winners between South Africa and Cape Verde in the semi-finals on Wednesday.