A product of the Nigerian Professional Football League, Sunday Mba produced a stunning display twice to put smiles across the faces of Millions of Nigerians, eight years ago as the country lifted her third African Cup of Nations trophy in South Africa after two decades in the wilderness.
After the Eagles failed to top their group at the preliminary stages, which had defending champions Zambia, leaders Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, the Late Stephen Okechukwu Keshi’s tutored side were drawn to face the competition favorite, Ivory Coast in the quarter finals.
Not so many believed the Super Eagles would progress to the semi-final at the expense of a star studded Ivorian team. But, the rest was history after a Sunday Mba’s deflected shot caught goalkeeper Boubacar Barry off guard as the game ended 2 – 1 in favour of Nigeria.
After all the near misses, the penalty shootout defeat on home soil in 2000 against Cameroon and the five semi-final defeats, Nigeria’s great quest finally came to an end. The Super Eagles faced the Stallions of Burkina Faso in the final after an emphatic 4 – 1 victory over Mali in the semi-final.
It was Burkina Faso’s first AFCON final after seeing off Ghana on penalties in the semis, and Sunday Mba again, went on to decide it; shattering the Stallion’s dream of landing a first continental silverware in Johannesburg, with his first-half strike.
The Super Eagles went on to win the the tournament after missing out on the previous edition co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in 2012.
Mba, whose heroic show at the 2013 tournament caught the attention of European clubs, soon saw his career short-lived on grounds of his reported miscalculated moves: for instance, moving to France and thereby rendering himself ineligible to represent Nigeria at the 2014 Championship of African Nations (Chan) which destroyed his relationship with Keshi.
But that should not have been enough to derail the obvious talent, who at the time plied his trade in the Nigerian professional league with Warri Wolves.
The 32-year-old hasn’t had a club since he left Yeni Malatyaspor in September 2017…three and a half years, and counting.
With the AFCON tournament, scheduled to take place in Cameroon by 2022, should we expect a player of Sunday Mba’s prowess from our domestic league?
