By Christian Okpara
Nigeria, yesterday, got close to joining Senegal in the quarterfinals of the ongoing African U-20 Nations Cup in Egypt by beating the hosts 1-0 at the Cairo International Stadium.
The Flying Eagles, against all predictions, lost 0-1 to Senegal in their opening game and needed either a win or a draw to retain hopes of making the second round. That they did courtesy of defender, Solomon Agbalaka’s 71st minute bullet header off a cross from the right flank.
The hosts were held to a goalless draw by Mozambique in their opening game on Sunday, and like Nigeria, needed to avoid defeat to remain in contention for a quarterfinal ticket. But they met a Flying Eagles team bent on showing that their loss to Senegal was a fluke.
Nigeria went into the game like a house on fire, with the strike force, led by Onuche Ogbelu, taking the fight to the hosts. But despite having more of possession, the Flying Eagles found it difficult to make their superiority show, fluffing chance after chance.
The Egyptians came more into the game in the second half, but they found Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Chijioke Aniagboso, a hard nut to crack. And just when the hosts thought they could, somehow, find a way past the 17-year-old Aniagboso, the Flying Eagles struck.
Egypt conceded a corner kick in the 71st minute and lined up defenders to keep the Flying Eagles’ attackers at bay. But they didn’t reckon with defender, Agbalaka, who rose above all the obstacles to power home a bullet header.
Thereafter, the Nigerians locked up shop, displaying a game management style that confounded the Young Pharoahs till the end of the match.
Nigeria’s next game is against Mozambique, who lost 3-0 to Senegal, also yesterday.
The win gave the Senegalese a quarterfinal final ticket, leaving the second Group A ticket to either Nigeria or Egypt. Senegal have six points to top Group A table, Nigeria is second on three points, Egypt is third with a point, while Mozambique is bottom with a point and an inferior goals difference to Egypt.
As things stand, the Flying Eagles will qualify for the quarterfinals if they beat Mozambique by any margin in the last game. They can also qualify if they draw and Egypt fail to beat Senegal by more than one goal.
Nigeria will fail to make the quarterfinal if they lose to Mozambique and Egypt beat Senegal.
Source: The Guardian