Nigeria 2 South Africa 0

Tijani Babagida ended South Africa's hopes of an African Nations Cup final place as hosts Nigeria played their way into Sunday's final - their seventh appearance at that stage of the competition.

The 2-0 win now sees Nigeria wait for the winner of the second semi final in Accra between Cameroon and Tunisia but the Nigerians with home advantage are hot favourites to take the title after some poor moments in the group qualifying stages two weeks ago.

South America never recovered from a stunning opening by the Nigerians that saw Ajax forward Babangida give his side a lead after only 40 seconds.

The visitors managed few shots on target after Babangida had found space to slide the ball into the net straight from the kick-off and he added a second in the 34th minute.

This goal was one of the best of the tournament as he cut inside and whipped a swerving shot into the net beyond the grasp of Andre Arendse.

The shot effectively ended the game as South Africa found it hard to get in any clear shooting chances against the Nigerian defence.

Nwankwo Kanu had the chance to add a further goal for Nigeria but scuffed his shot wide of target but Nigeria found this game easier than many people had been predicting.