The Flying Eagles of Nigeria defeated Tunisia 1-0 in their opening fixture at the 2025 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations at the June 30 Stadium, Cairo on Thursday. Completesports.com’s ADEBOYE AMOSU appraises the performance of the players in the game.
Ebenezer Harcourt 7/10
A solid showing from the Sporting Lagos goalkeeper. He made a crucial save to deny the Tunisians late in the game.
Adamu Maigari 7/10
The right-back was outstanding in the game. Performed his defensive task with dexterity though he didn’t venture forward much.
Emmanuel Chukwu 8/10
The Hoffenheim centre-back formed a solid partnership with captain Daniel Bameyi. He has a big future ahead of him.
Daniel Bameyi 8/10
Showed his experience in the keenly contested encounter. Organised his defence well and made a number of crucial blocks.
Odinaka Okoro 9/10
Provided the assist for Nigeria’s only goal of the game. He was solid at the back and also supported the attack.
Caleb Ochedikwu 6/10
He protected the defence well but didn’t offer much going forward.
Auwal Ibrahim 9/10
The playmaker scored the winning goal in the 38th minute. He was named Man of the Match.
Divine Oliseh 6/0
Oliseh was effective in the game. He was replaced by Armiyau Yushua in the 68th minute.
Clinton Jephta 6/10
Worked hard upfront but was a bit selfish. Made way for Tahir Maigana late on.
Bidemi Amole 5/10
The winger had a quiet game, and was duly substituted by Ricky Mendos.
Kparobo Arierhi 6/10
The Lillestrøm of Norway striker came close to scoring twice in the first half. He was quiet after the break.
Substitutes
Ricky Mendos 4/10
Took the place of Bidemi Amole in the 68th minute. He won the penalty that was later overturned by VAR.
Armiyau Yushua 4/10
Contributed little following his introduction.
3 Comments
That left wing back must be protected with all seriousness. Divine Oliseh needs to show more in the coming games I like his flair. I don’t know why Jephta is not ranked higher? That boy is the engine of the team.
I like that Chukwu guy in central defense very commanding with no nonsense approach. Captain Bameyi looks like Cannavaro. I need to see more from Arierhi but he shows promise. And not forgetting the goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt. I’m only worried about his ball distribution but he’s a great shot stopper in the making. Somewhat of an Enyeama.
Overall great result lads. Na the only team wey Dey give me hope be this.
I started watching this match from the 22nd minute which afforded me the opportunity to see the only goal, and what a goal it was!
A long ball from centre defence found the left winger who controlled well before laying a pass to the midfielder, whose late run into the box 18 blindsided the Tunisians, before powering through and poking it into the net.
At a time when fans are inundated with copious football across age, gender, in club or international competitions, this encounter was of low quality in my opinion. It failed to draw me in or keep me there for the duration.
I was tempted to stop watching several times but the patriotism in me kept me going to the end.
For those who “gave this match a wide berth’, they didn’t miss much.
Going to my observation, the Flying Eagles played something resembling 4-3-3 but there was often 3 defenders at the back because one of the fullbacks was permanently overlapping.
The Flying Eagles displayed an ability to slow down the tempo of the game from midfield whenever they faced relentless pressure.
They will often dillydally with the ball before being rightly dispossessed. There were several misplaced passes. Miscommunication was rife which betrays a team that needs more time to gel and function as a cohesive unit.
There were childish miskicks akin to what you will see in local Ajegunle 5-aside Sunday football. They were nowhere sharp enough upfront to convert scantily curated scoring chances. And their routines were not calibrated neat enough to evoke a round of applause as they scrambled to make an impression. Although they are “young men”, they looked very tired towards the end, making call their stamina into question. What happens when they have to play extra time?
On to positives.
The Flying Eagles showed positional discipline. They are well groomed in their roles but they need to be aware of their responsibilities. The goalkeeper commanded his area well and the defence looked decent.
These boys actually look comfortable on the ball with some sporadic neat touches which were let down with rudimentary interplay. They played with drive and determination, verve and vigor which lacked enough panache and poise to really wow fans.
The tackles were good, actually. And winning back position came to them as “to the manner born”. They drove into enemy territory with bad intentions only to be let down by bad positioning and poor communication.
Long balls from defence was good and the midfield did what was asked of it. The wings (often the jewel in Nigeria’s crown in all our national teams) was underwhelming for me.
They hustle for the ball which is a pass mark for their patriotism and passion.
But for me, one more subpar performance like this (from an entertainment perspective) and I will give up on this tournament and only follow if from news and social media reports.
Well done Flying Eagles for the hard fought slim win and good luck for the remainder of the tournament.
Nigeria team was world class from kickoff till when they scored the only goal. If our guys played with that passion and collaboration through the match Nigeria would have won with nothing less than five goals.