The greatest shock of all, perhaps, is when there is no shock. In a Cup of Nations in which reputation and pre-tournament billing has meant nothing, there was at last a game that went the way that might have been expected, as Ademola Lookman’s first-half goal and a fourth clean sheet in a row carried Nigeria to the last four of the Cup of Nations for the 16th time.
It’s a familiar position for them to be in, and it was a familiar way in which they achieved it. Although Zini hit the post when the score was 1-0, this was another very controlled performance from José Peseiro’s side, the only real concern their failure to add a second and make the game safe.
Nigeria are exceptionally good at quarter-finals. This was the 11th they have played in at the Cup of Nations since the expansion of the tournament in 1990; they had only lost one, in 2008 to a Ghana inspired by Junior Agogo. And this Angola, respectfully, are not a Ghana inspired by Junior Agogo.
On a draining afternoon, hot and humid even by the standards of the Ivorian February, as the rhythmic drumming of the Nigerian fans exercised a soporific effect, the game had slumped into a pre-half-time torpor when the winner arrived from nowhere.