Flying Eagles head coach, Aliyu Zubairu has accepted responsibility for his team’s defeat to South Africa in their semi-final encounter at the 2025 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations.
Nigeria lost 1-0 to the Amajita 1-0 at the Suez Canal Stadium, Ismailia on Thursday.
Tylon Smith scored the winning goal in the 66th minute.
“I take full responsibility for our failure to reach the final. As head coach, the blame rests on me,” Zubairu said during his interaction with the media after the game.
Zubairu said he will overhaul the squad going into the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.
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“This tournament has helped us identify the players capable of stepping up to the next level and those who are not. After our WAFU B success, we dropped many players because their quality wasn’t sufficient for the continental stage,” he added.
” A similar review will happen again. It’s clear that some of the current squad members aren’t ready for the demands of a World Cup.”
The Flying Eagles have scored two goals from open play in the competition, and a missed a number of chances.
Zubairu reckoned his side have struggled in front of goal.
“Our biggest problem has been poor finishing. We’ve created chances but failed to convert them. Everyone knows Kparobo Arierhi is a clinical striker, and we relied on him heavily. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deliver here. That said, he remains a quality player—this just wasn’t his tournament,” he stated.
Nigeria will take on hosts Egypt in the third-place match on Sunday.
By Adeboye Amosu
10 Comments
That your number 9 Kparobo Arierhi is just like Victor Boniface in national colors.
It’s players like Victor Osimhen who carry a constant threat and with high conversation rate that we call “clinical strikers” o. Not potential with no end result cos their club mates are not on the field.
Better look for strikers. It was the missing link. Your team wasn’t so bad in defence and midfield.
Shameless quota system coach and quota system players. Even with overaged players, you still couldn’t beat South African kids
I don’t agree with you @Kel, on your viewpoint on Kparobo Arierhi. He is usually a nightmare to defences. Recall that in the WAFU B finals, he singlehandedly scored the 2 goals that gave Nigeria the trophy over rivals Ghana u20 team. It is not for nothing that CAF rated him as one of the top 5 players to watch in the 2025 Afcon tournament.
Sometimes you have bad tournament. It’s just like Osimhen at the last Afcon in Ivory Coast, where he scored only one goal in 7 games- and was not included in the team of the tournament where Ekong and Lookman featured.
The u20 team is not a bad team. They had a bad day at the office yesterday against South Africa, compounded by the loss of 1st team goal keeper, Ebenezer Harcourt. That game could have easily ended 4 or 5 Nil in favour of the Flying Eagles. The cheap goal the jittery replacement goal keeper, Yakub, gifted the SA u20 team destroyed the FE moral and rhythm of play- young, inexperienced players lost composure. SA u20 were no match to the FE in any department of the game yesterday, except perhaps the goal keeping department.
The same problem with the super eagles full top ..
As long as the midfield can’t hold the ball . , can’t control the possession. Dey attack will always struggle to score . .
Lookman, oshimen in their club knows wat to do with the ball when it comes but when they come to play with national team dey struggle to adapt with the home team . Flying eagles just exhibited that against all their opponent.
But flying eagles dominated the midfield in all the games they featured so far in this tournament including the one against favourites Morocco ?
Until NFF stop the bigotry and sentiment in appointing National coaches,nothing will come out from national soccer teams and otherwise. For more than 10 years now ,Naija has nothing to write home about in the youth field. Naija used to be a nut to crack in U 17 & U 20 in Africa but recently the case is reverse ,because of the bigotry and sentiments.
But the flying eagles coach was one of the best local coaches last season, lifting the F.A cup with second division El-Kanemi?
Well said
SA was the easiest game for FE, but somehow they blew it. Even Kenya was harder than SA. I think the midfield is the problem. You can control the midfield all you want, without credible threat to goal you’re useless. Not until after SA scored that the no. 11 and others started taking long range shots.
If the NFF technical department still has functioning headphones, they need to plug into this sharp analysis and listen well.
That U-20 AFCON semifinal between Nigeria and South Africa was a textbook case of coaching difference — plain and simple. South Africa wasn’t more talented than us man-for-man, but they were better coached, tactically disciplined, and purposeful. Their approach had identity. Nigeria, as usual, had energy and raw talent, but no clear-cut execution. We were running hard — but in circles. We pressed well, we disrupted South Africa’s build-up, yes, but when it came time to actually put the ball in the net — kolomental.
And here’s the sad part:: this is not a fresh problem; it’s something followers of Nigerian football already know — anytime we have any team dominated by local-based players and led by homegrown coaches, the trend is the same: dominate, create, and waste. Then, at the crucial moment, we fall like a house of Agege bread. The only real exception in recent time was that golden 2013 U-17 team under Manu Garba and Emmanuel Amuneke. That team not only created chances — they converted. That was a product of good coaching, a clear playing philosophy, and a well-assembled squad, not just vibes and hustle.
So the bigger question is: What is the NFF doing to develop and invest in our coaches? Look at South Africa — they’ve built a culture where their male and female teams, from U-17s to the senior side, have a uniform style of play. They’ve clearly invested in the tactical education of their coaches, and now it’s showing on the pitch. They may not always beat us, but they compete effectively, and the gap is shrinking rapidly. That’s a major red flag for Nigeria.
And as for Eguavoen — the so-called Technical Director — what exactly is this man’s function? What technical input has he made since assuming that role? We keep seeing the same old flaws in our teams: lack of a clear playing identity, poor finishing, weak in-game management, and questionable squad selections. Yet, nobody gets held accountable. There’s supposedly a technical department, but is it just for decoration?
A serious technical director reviews team performances after every tournament, breaks down tactical flaws, and prescribes concrete action plans to improve and ensures this is done. So why are we still here, recycling the same weaknesses like it’s tradition? Challe, 4 matches, 3 goals scored, 3 conceded — for a team that dominated possession in all games? That’s not just inefficiency, that’s tactical bankruptcy. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. If we don’t overhaul our coaching philosophy and stop this “man-know-man” method of appointing youth coaches and selecting players, we’ll soon be watching countries we used to beat easily run past us — and wave while overtaking.
Nigeria isn’t short of talent — we’re short of football brains where it matters most. And until the NFF realizes that youth football is about development, tactics, and structure — not just trials and connections — we’ll keep putting out fast, exciting teams… that crash when it matters most.