There was palpable optimism around the fortunes of Nigeria’s Under-20 national team, the Flying Eagles, ahead of the TotalEnergies 2023 African Cup of Nations. The chances of the team extending their African record of seven AFCON titles was very high. Indeed, team coach Ladan Bosso expressed confidence in his team’s ability to be successful at the Egypt-hosted tournament especially after their performances in preparatory matches for the February to March competition.
The coach’s optimism was buoyed by results like the Flying Eagles emerging victorious in an international friendly match against the Junior Chipolopolo of Zambia, with a score of 4-2. The match was played in Abuja on February 4, just a few days before the team’s departure to Egypt. In his post-match interview with newsmen, Bosso described the game against Zambia as a good test match for his team. He praised his charges for giving a good account of themselves and showing that they were ready to take on the rest of Africa. Bosso added that the match had allowed him to assess his team’s strengths and weaknesses, and that his boys had played with the right attitude and spirit.
There were several grounds for Bosso’s optimism, especially after it became obvious that the Flying Eagles were going to face a daunting challenge having been drawn to play hosts Egypt, Senegal and Mozambique in Group A of the competition. One positive for the team was that goalkeeper Nathaniel Nwosu finished the WAFU qualifying competition as the safest hands. Although Nwosu was responsible for some of the errors during the match against Zambia, Bosso retained his faith in the player’s abilities. He noted that Nwosu had even been invited to the Super Eagles camp, indicating that he was not someone who could be relied on.
Bosso had also highlighted the synergy in the team, pointing out that they had gone through a lot of hard work and training to get to the level where they were at the time. He did not hesitate to hail the most improved players in the team, Yahaya Abubakar and Haliru Sarki, and attributed their improvement to the team’s approach of identifying and working on each player’s strengths and weaknesses. Overall, the coach was confident that the Flying Eagles had a winning team capable of doing Nigeria proud at the U-20 AFCON in Egypt. His team was determined to maintain their philosophy, culture, and style of play to make Nigerians proud.
However, it took the opening fixture of the competition to challenge the confidence of the coach and the squad and to shake the hopes of football fans in Nigerian itching for a trophy from any of the national teams. The Flying Eagles squad, composed of goalkeeper Nwosu, Augustine Njoku, Solomon Agbalaka, Daniel Daga, Abel Ogwuche, Daniel Bameyi, Rilwanu Haliru Sarki, Nicholas Jonathan, Ahmed Abdullahi, Muhammad Aminu and Ibrahim Muhammad, Benjamin Frederick, Emmanuel Uchegbu, Onuche Ogbelu, Jude Sunday, Akanbi Saheed Jimoh, Ayuba Francis Abubakar, Samson Lawal, Olamilekan Adams, Caleb Ochedikwu and Chijioke Aniagboso, took on the Young Lions of Teranga, Senegal’s U-20 team and suffered a disappointing 1-0 loss.
A goal from Souleymane Faye five minutes before the end of the first half was all it took and, despite coming into the tournament unbeaten, the Eagles allowed this setback affect their rhythm. Not only did the Senegalese dictate the tempo of the game, Bosso’s boys failed to convert their chances. Although Nigeria improved slightly in the second half and pushed for the equaliser, Senegal’s defence did well to cage the Nigerian attack while trying to hit on the counter-attacks. Nigeria’s first shot on target came in the 88th minute from a long-range shot fired by Onuche Ogbelu but comfortably saved by Landing Badji. Nigeria finished the encounter with 10 men after substitute Ahmed Abdullahi was sent off for a second bookable offense deep into stoppage time. The result saw Nigeria fall to the bottom of Group A with no points while Senegal went straight to the top of the table.
The dismay from this first loss was lessened by the fact that in the other group match, earlier in the day, Egypt and Mozambique played a goalless draw, with both teams notching a single point apiece. Chances of the Flying Eagles making it past the group stages improved when, in an uplifting victory for the Flying Eagles but a devastating loss for Egypt’s Young Pharaohs, Nigeria earned a narrow 1-0 win at the Cairo stadium in their second game. It was a result that meant that the hopes of hosts Egypt advancing to the next round of the Africa Cup of Nations took a major hit even though they dominated the game. Nigeria frustrated the Pharaohs to keep them from capitalising on several easy goal-scoring opportunities, which ultimately cost them Egypt the match.
Solomon Agbalaka sealed the deal for Nigeria with a beautiful header in the 71st minute, taking advantage of Egypt’s lack of concentration in defense. The result left the Pharaohs in third place in Group A after two games leaving the hosts on the brink of an early exit. Only the top two teams in each group, along with the two best-performing third-placed teams, can advance to the quarter-finals.
Just as it was becoming a worry that the Flying Eagles were barely scrapping through the Group ties, only managing to find a lone goal and also losing by a lone goal as well, Bosso and his charges finally found a 2-0 win. In a thrilling encounter at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia, Nigeria defeated Mozambique to secure a spot in the quarter-finals. Two sumptuous goals in the first-half through Samson Lawal and Ibrahim Muhammad ensured that the team finished second in Group A. It was their best outing as they controlled the match from the beginning, dominating possession and creating several chances. The result saw the Young Os Mambas of Mozambique crash out together with Egypt, who lost 4-0 to Senegal.
The worry around the inability of the Nigerian side to score as many goals as Senegal was doing returned in the quarter-finals. The Flying Eagles secured their spot in the semis through a 1-0 defeat of Uganda in a hard-fought encounter at the Suez Canal Stadium.
Although the victory ensured that Nigeria qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, it was disturbing that the goals were not as much as the chances they were creating. It was also worrying that their goal-scoring was not as frequent as their pre-tournament matches. Against the Hippos of Uganda, the first goal was an own-goal from Ibrahim Juma at the half-hour mark. However, qualifying for the semis and the World Cup gave the team enough to celebrate without belabouring their reduced goal-scoring statistics and the decrease in goal-conversion rates.
This shortage of goals finally impacted the team’s fortunes when in a stunning upset, Gambia defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the semi-finals. Gambia’s Adama Bojang scored an early goal and Nigeria had a chance to level the score with a penalty, but substitute Ahmed Abdullahi’s shot hit the post. This was after the first opportunity to score opened up for Ibrahim Muhammed, whose shot was off target. Gambia nearly doubled their lead on a counter-attack in the 23rd minute. Although Gambia was reduced to 10 men following a rash challenge by Haruna Rasid Njie in the 89th minute, they held on to win and secure their spot in the final for a chance to claim their first-ever AFCON title.
In the aftermath of the loss attention has rightly turned to the World Cup in the hope that lessons have been learnt. Harping on the need for improvements, the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Sunday Dare, charged the the Bosso-led squad to quickly cast off any regrets over their loss to Gambia and focus on redeeming themselves by playing a good World Cup. He made the important point of how little a time they have left before the World Cup in May and how important it is to get prepared for the tougher task that the competition will bring. There are valid worries about the capacity of the team to deliver especially as they could barely handle some lightweight teams on paper at AFCON. There is also the suspicious lack of technical input into the team’s style of play and cohesion as a functional unit leading to question marks on the capacity of Bosso to create a squad of big match winners. Yet, it is too close to the kickoff of the World Cup now to effect any managerial changes.
Just as THEWILL pointed out when the Super Falcons were stopped from reaching the finals of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), it will take a lot of improvement to see an American national team that struggled at the continental level make headlines at the World Cup. Fortunately, the government has pledged to support the players. Each player is set to receive $5,000 for qualifying Nigeria to the World Cup. All the 21 players registered for this year’s U20 AFCON will benefit from this largesse. The hope is that the U-20 team will appreciate the gesture and be fired up by personal and national glory to seek to better their individual and collective performances for a better outing at the World Cup in Indonesia than they turned out at the AFCON in Egypt.
The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of this prestigious event. The biennial international men’s youth football championship contested by the U-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship, is already historic. It is the first time the country has ever hosted a FIFA tournament. In addition to that, the U-20 World Cup will be only the second to be held in Southeast Asia, following the 1997 event in Malaysia. It also represents the first FIFA tournament in the region since the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand.
The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup is expected to attract a significant number of visitors and generate considerable economic and social benefits for the host country and the region. It will serve as an opportunity for young players from different countries to showcase their talents and compete at the highest level of international football. With a remarkable improvement in performance and goal-conversion, perhaps Nigeria’s Flying Eagles will take advantage of this opportunity.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
