Nigeria’s Flying Eagles lost 2-1 to Uganda in their Group B opening game at the 2023 African Games inside the Accra Sports Stadium in Ghana on Thursday.
A late goal by Ivan Irinimbabazi, gave the Ugandans the perfect start to the games.
Usama Arafat opened scoring for Uganda in the 33rd minute, as he raced towards the Flying Eagles goal area and slotted past the goalkeeper.
In the 37th minute, the Flying Eagles equalized thanks to Sadiq Isiyaka, who headed home from a corner kick.
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But in the 81st minute Irinimbabazi hit a low shot from the outside of the box which beat the Nigerian shot stopper.
The Flying Eagles will hope to bounce back from the opening day loss when they face South Sudan on Monday 11, March.
South Sudan also got their campaign off on a losing note after falling 1-0 to Senegal today (Thursday).
20 Comments
Ladan Issa Bosso Aka home based zero trophy cabinet coach yet corrupt and incompetent NFF never stops appointing him. Uganda has just outplayed and defeated Nigeria after your bragging, now what is your excuse for failing???
Hahahahaha. Uganda kwa!?
Why am I not surprised??? When you have a sit-tight dictator who leveraged his position as chairman of the coaches association of Nigeria to install himself as the life coach of the U20 team.
Until he’s finally able to market Daga, Rabiu, Sarkis, Muhamed’s and what not he keeps recycling every year and get his sign-on cut form the deal, Bosso will still be in charge of the Gusau’s (not Nigeria’s) U20 next year. And the year after. And the year after. It’s business and the deal hasn’t clicked yet.
It’s desperate business. The world cup is still coming for further opportunities to market its players at the international stage. I mean this was supposed to be an U23 tournament, but after jaw-jawing with Gusau about his yet-to-be-realized business, Gusau had to yield to Uthe powerful Bosso to take his fake U20 team instead and bulldozed the u23 coach and his team out of the way.
Where’s the very talented U17 team of Nduka Ugbade from last year??? If we’re talking merit and no corruption, they should be the U20 team this year.
I have said it several time, I will never cecelbrate a win my Bosso’s U20 tribal northern Nigerian grandfathers win no mater the level they’re playing. I don’t celebrate nonsense and cheating.
May more loses come for this U20 team. AMEN.
While I’m NOT a fan of Bosso’s coaching at all, his 2023 team was much better than the so-called “talented U17 team” of Ugbade that struggled to in 2 games and lose 2 games while getting booted out at the QF of the CAF U17s.
Anyway, Nigerian football should never degenerate to the level of the Nigerian Civil Service where virtually everyone is promoted from one level to the next seemingly irrespective of individual merit or competence.
Reality is Bosso is pretty much in the same vein as most recent SE coaches, the Reserved-for-Africans Gernot Rohr and Jose Peseiro – journeymen whose teams, apart from the odd exception, often mirror their averageness!
I agree with you point 100%.
Corruption and business as usual in selecting bad players in order to sell them to Turkish league or Saudi.
I hope they get knocked out early so their Corruption comes to halt sooner than later.
The coaches coach is on the beat. When he cut out some players of Beyond Limits, I knew he was not ready to win. The perennial under20 boss, that is a result of sentimental preferences. Anyway, no matter your performance, NFF will not cut you loose. Continue.
Hahahahaha. Uganda kwa!?
Why am I not surprised??? What do you get when you have a sit-tight dictator who leveraged his position as chairman of the bogus coaches association of Nigeria to install himself as the life coach of the U20 team.
Until he’s finally able to market the Dagas, Rabius, Sarkis, and Muhammad’s in his northern NIgerian U20 team, which he keeps recycling every year, and gets his sign-on cut from the deal, Bosso will still be in charge of Gusau’s (not Nigeria’s) U20 next year. And the year after. And the year after. It’s business, and the deal hasn’t clicked yet.
It’s desperate business. The world cup is still coming for further opportunities to market his players on the international stage. I mean, this was supposed to be a U23 tournament, but after jaw-jawing with Gusau about his yet-to-be-realized business, Gusau had to yield to the powerful Bosso to take his fake U20 team instead and bulldozed the U23 coach and his team out of the way.
Where’s the very talented U17 team of Nduka Ugbade from last year??? If we’re talking merit and no corruption, they should be the U20 team this year.
I have said it several times, I will never celebrate a win by Bosso’s U20 tribal northern Nigerian grandfathers, no matter the level they’re playing at. Until MRI scan is made compulsory for U20 tournaments like it’s done with U17, which has become saner now. I don’t celebrate nonsense and cheating.
May more losses come for this U20 team. AMEN.
It’s time for NFF to employ coach Tunde of BLA let’s see what he can offer to Nigerians after doing an excellent job with Beyond Limits. Manu Garba was also great in the grass root development, please we need more world class talent and only these two coaches can unearth them @TheNFF .
Yep! Listening to Tunde’s interviews, he comes across as a smart coach – but will he get the same kind of administrative support and competence that’s seems available to him at BLA?! Reality is as good as anyone is, no one can outrun their shadow. Accordingly, coaches working for the NFF are often constrained by the ineptness and incompetence prevalent in the Glass House.
Bosso’s Boys demonstrated enough in this game to demonstrate they can bounce back from the mishap of the 2:1 loss to Uganda.
Uganda are no easy meat to chew in Under-20 football in Africa so the defeat is not as shocking as it seems.
For me, Uganda created the far better chances and they played the more beautiful-to-the-eye football. But the Flying Eagles showed fighting spirit to initially claw their way back into the game only for a well worked give and take routine leading to a shot from range killing them off.
Nigeria played with a semblance of organisation; looked to force Uganda into mistakes; threaten from the flanks and played with reasonable physicality. But inept finishing, misguided decision making and shoddy techniques let them down badly.
But they showed enough to suggest they will grow into the tournament. If they meet Uganda again then the outcome will be different.
Bosso is a coach Nigeria fans love to criticise until he goes farther than they expect in tournaments, this should be no different.
When I said that I didn’t trust the coach some people thought I was joking.
Merely looking at the name of people he invited (not much changes from the name of boys he invited the last time) I knew he would fumble.
I’m not surprise with the result.
Corruption and tribalism has finished this country.
Watch out. This Ladan Bosso will one day coach the Super Eagles, no matter his consistently poor results with our national teams.
Shame!
When I saw the coach name and the players his selected I knew we were just going to Ghana to make up the numbers. To Aboki winning is not important, going to the competition with his Aboki brothers is like winning the trophy. What criteria Bosso used in selecting those players.
“Aboki”?! How exactly are you any better than the same tribalism you’re alleging Bosso to be guilty of?! Nigerians are the WORST thing to happen to Nigeria!!
For as long as Nigeria – not Nigerians but Nigerian government, right from the local government to the federal government refuse to do things the right way, there’s no way we will achieve excellence in any endeavor. The corruption in players selection was just too glaring for all to see today in Ghana. Starting from the goalkeeper to the striker, the players were not just good enough. They are not just the real Nigerian youth players.
First, they are men claiming to be youth players – Bamayi, Daga etc (please don’t tell me they just played for the last under 20 team because they were never under 20). Now that they are playing against players who are relatively within their own real age, they can’t muscle their way to victory like they did at under 20. In the next 3 to 5 year age will catch up with them and you’ll not hear their name again.
Second, they lack the basic skills needed to play at this levels. Imagine Bosso’s players doing karate on the pitch today against Uganda. This is mind boggling! If at this level, they are playing “kick ball make I run,” I wonder what they will play if they are ever drafted to the super eagles.
Third, they are not the real players Nigeria have or can present at under 20 /under 23 levels. This blame goes to the NFF who have refused to stop encouraging corruption in terms of players selection to our national teams. As it is with Ladan Bosso, so it was with Nduka Ugbade. 90% of coaches of our national teams never select players on merit. But they expect Nigerian football fans to support them and they equally expect that the players they selected by crooked means will win competitions for them. How so? If I may ask. This same corruption in players selection is currently going on with Danjuma and his under 20 female team.
I’m waiting to see where this corruption will take all these our Nigerian coaches.
And it’s not Nigerians that make up the Nigerian government?!
Nobody is born a government official or member of the government, “right from the local government to the federal government”. The people in government today were the pontificators, labor leaders, student union ‘activists’, etc. of yesterday (Oshiomole, Moro, Melaye, etc.). Ultimately, Nigeria’s condition is the culmination of the various actions (by commission or omission) of all Nigerians. There’s NO “Nigeria” (or Nigerian government) without Nigerians!
I agree with you that there is no Nigeria without Nigerians. But what percentage of Nigerians make up the government? Herein lies the problem of Nigeria. You have 1% of the population determining the future of 99% and this one percent don’t care what becomes of the Nigerian nation.
The Oshiomole, Moro, and Melaye that you mentioned are part of the 1% destroying Nigeria. So, it think I’m correct to say that the Nigerian government at the federal, state, and local governments is destroying everything that is associated with Nigeria. This is not a mirage but a reality because it is not the ordinary man at Nnewi, Idumota, or Zaria that is implementing policies that has plummeted Nigeria’s naira to more than N1,500 to $1.
BAD LEADERS IN NFF HAS DESTROYED NIGERIA FOOTBALL
SALISU MADE NIGERIA MENS UNDER 23 TO LOSE OUT OF OLYMPIC FOOTBALL IN PARIS
THE SAME UNDER 20 COACH HE BOOSTS TOO MUCH HE DON’T KNOW ANYTHING THERE’S A BETTER COACHES IN NIGERIA BUT NORTHERN PEOPLE WANT TO BE THE HEAD OF EVERYTHING IN NIGERIA YOU HAVE DESTROYED EVERYTHING IN NIGERIA NO MORE PROGRESS IN NIGERIA BECAUSE OF NORTHERN PEOPLE
I should express my gratitude for this essay and the regularity with which I employ it. You will likely continue to publish above-average content on this site.
You’ve said it all: hypocrisy of one Nigeria at the back heel of incompetence, tribalism and corruption have all culminated in the apostasy of this Country’s football. Can I stop watching Nigeria’s age grade football? I am really disappointed with the glass house recycling habitual failures and Tribalists in the Country’s football development as Coaches. These are the cohorts fighting foreign Coaches in Nigeria.
Please just shup you stinking mouth, is it you that conceived Bamiyi and daga that you know they not using their real age, if you have proof of their real age, present it to the right authorities and stop this assumptions you making here. Imagine making a case for Uganda that they using much younger players. Absolute nonsense.