Defending champions Nigeria’s Flying Eagles booked their place in the semi-finals of the WAFU B U-20 Championship with a convincing 3-0 victory over Togo’s Sparrow Hawks in Yamoussoukro on Thursday.
The Flying Eagles maintained their perfect start to the tournament, making it two wins from two matches after their opening 4-2 victory over Ghana.
The result also confirmed Togo’s elimination after they had earlier suffered a 3-1 defeat to Burkina Faso.
The first half offered little excitement, with both sides struggling to create clear-cut chances as the contest remained goalless at the break.
Nigeria, however, returned with greater purpose after the restart and broke the deadlock just one minute into the second half. In-form striker Muiz Adeleke finished calmly to put Abdu Maikaba’s side ahead.
Read Also:WAFU B U-20 Championship: Flying Eagles Target Early Semi-Final Ticket Against Togo
Adeleke doubled the Flying Eagles’ advantage in the 57th minute, continuing his impressive goalscoring form.
The forward has now netted four goals in just two matches at the tournament, underlining his status as one of the standout performers in the competition.
The Flying Eagles wrapped up the victory five minutes from time when Abdullahi Agbeloye found the back of the net to cap a dominant second-half display.
The win sends Nigeria to the last four with six points from two games and guarantees their qualification with a match to spare.
The Flying Eagles will round off their Group B campaign against Burkina Faso on Sunday.
By Adeboye Amosu
4 Comments
Good performance from our flying eagles
Once again all through the 90 minutes same tempo couple with nerves
That nr 15 was very solid. He broke almost everything…
Small field never mind they still play a good game to watch
The number 15 was man of the match in the Ghana game..He is a talented central midfielder from Insurance of Benin by the name Oraro Lucky…
The old Bendel state (Edo/Delta) today,have a history of producing very good midfielders,the likes of Thompson Oliha,Osaro Obobaifo of blessed memories..Edema Fuludu,Wilson Oruma,Monday Agbontaen,Augustine Okocha,Edema Benson,Etebo,Ogenyi Onazi the list goes on….
Etebo was the last to represent the old Bendel state.Since his emergence we have thinned in the supply chain from that region.
They are a fantastic bunch.The art of playing in the midfield come so natural for them,the flair,energy and beauty is unrivalled!
The fantastic performances of Oraro Lucky gives us hope as well erase the question of dearth of talent from the old Bendel state.
Good observation and analysis @Greenturf. You do know your Nigerian football well! Eric Chelle should bring this jewel, called Lucky Oraro to the Super Eagles midfield immediately after the U-20 Afcon to be held in Ghana.
And yes I agree with “Greenturf” that the old Bendel state( now Edo and Delta states) has a history of producing world-class midfield maestros for the Green Eagles (now Super Eagles) of Nigeria.
Omitted from your list is midfield-general and captain of the 1978 Challenge cup winning Bendel Insurance club of Benin City- Felix Agbonifo. The guy was a master class in midfield play in the 1978 Challenge cup, beating the then two dominant teams- IICC Shooting stars of Ibadan 2-0 in the semi-finals; and thrashing Rangers International of Enugu, 3-0 in the final to win the Cup that year for Bendel Insurance.
Thanks @Toni..The name Felix Agbonifo rings a bell..Though I do not know him well,I might have to look him up to get more information about him and his exploits for both club and country respectively.
Meanwhile,I wonder why our youth coaches don’t travel to the south south regions especially the ones mentioned in my post above.It would be the first place I would begin my scouting if I were a youth coach.
Nigeria regions are blessed with great talents.Some offers more talent than the rest in certain department.
While the country possesses a massive amount of raw talent,the pipeline linking grassroots players to national or professional teams remains fundamentally broken.
Lack of funding by the NFF makes it difficult for the coaches to travel to every region of the country for comprehensive scouting,so the screening exercises are centralised in Abuja to save cost,which usually gives room for agents manipulations.These agents representing various football academies coupled with NFF list and sometimes open screening for players who could afford transport fares and hotel fees…
End of the day the best talents aren’t scouted.This has really slowed our development.