23rd January 2000
Venue: National Stadium, Lagos
Attendance: 80,000
Referee: Alain Sars (France)
Can 2000 had stars such as Patrick Mboma, Samuel Eto’o, Samuel Kuffuor, Lucas Radebe, Victor Ikpeba, Sunday Oliseh, Jay Jay Okocha, and Mustapha Hadji among others but none put up a performance like Nwankwo Kanu’s incredible one against Tunisia.
Nwankwo Kanu assisted Okocha twice and Victor Ikpeba once in Nigeria’s 4-2 win over Tunisia. Nwankwo Kanu put up a 5-star performance as he showed the whole continent the stuff he was made of in Nigeria’s opening game of the tournament. An intelligent assist for Okocha’s opener and a wonderful flick to Victor Ikpeba for Nigeria’s fourth was tremendous.
Nwankwo Kanu, then a superstar who was part of the famous Ajax squad that shocked Europe by beating AC Milan in the 1994/95 UCL finals was a hazardous player to every opponent.
The two-time Footballer of the Year dazzled in CAN 2000 but the performance he put up against Tunisia will never be forgotten by football fans in Lagos.
In front of 80,000 spectators, in a much-anticipated opener for the co-host Nigeria, the then Arsenal forward, Nwankwo Kanu put up a wonderful display to announce his presence.
The Super Eagles team which was full of talented superstars like Jay Jay Okocha, Julius Agahowa, Taribo West, Finidi George, Tijani Babangida, Emmanuel Amuneke, Sunday Oliseh and Victor Ikpeba under the tutelage of Dutch manager Jo Bonfrere, Nwankwo Kanu stole the show with his touches, dribbling and incisive passes.
Nigeria topped Group D of AFCON 2000 and subsequently went ahead and finished as runner-up as they were beaten on penalties by Cameroon after a 2-2 draw in 120 minutes.
Nwankwo Kanu was the reigning African Footballer of the Year during CAN 2000 so it was a little surprise to see him dismantle Tunisia.
Kanu’s display is probably one of the best performances by any player in the group stages of any AFCON since 1957.
