Nigeria U20 side, the Flying Eagles, edged hosts Egypt 1-0 in their Group A encounter at the ongoing CAF U20AFCON in Egypt on Wednesday.
The fixture, played at the Cairo International Stadium, saw defender Solomon Agbalaka’s powerful header midway through the second half settle the contest between the two heavyweights.
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Ladan Bosso’s boys lost their opening game to Senegal and they came into this fixture on the back of immense pressure with qualification to the World Cup at stake.
Just as it was evident in the previous game, the WAFU B Champions were jittery in the opening half once again and needed a bit of time to settle down and start creating chances of their own against an equally poor Egyptian side.
One of the shining lights of the game was Rilwanu Sarki, whose relentless running and work rate down the wings, continued to trouble the young Pharaohs. Meanwhile, the first half ended goalless with both sides playing poorly and lacking the right coordination in the middle of the park.
After the break, goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagbaso made strong stops to deny the Egyptians from going in front and moments later the Flying Eagles got the game’s opening goal.
Solomon headed home Aminu Mohammed’s delightful cross from a set-piece situation to score Nigeria’s first goal at the tournament and hand his side the lead in the must-win encounter.
Upfront, Ayuba Abubakar missed great chances to increase Nigeria’s lead, but despite the misses, the team held on for their first set of points at the tournament.
The side will now face Mozambique, who lost 3-0 to Senegal earlier in the day, in their final group game for a place in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, the four semi-finalists in Egypt will represent Africa at the World Cup tournament billed for Indonesia later this year.
