Nigeria’s U20 Boys, Flying Eagles will seek a place in the semi- finals of the ongoing WAFU B U20 Tournament in Porto Novo on Wednesday when they confront West African arch rivals, Ghana’s Black Satellites at the Stade Charles de Gaulles.
With only three teams in Group B and having drawn their first tie against Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday, the seven-time African champions require a win to avoid any unforeseen circumstances to advance to the knock-out rounds.
Chris Nwaeze had given the Flying Eagles the lead in the 61st minute against the Ivorians but then got sent off for a second bookable offence as Nigeria conceded a late equalizer to drop two points.
Nwaeze will play no part in Wednesday’s encounter.
Head coach Ladan Bosso is upbeat about the chances of his wards, saying the lessons learnt from the opening clash would be put to good use against the illustrious opponents.
Read Also: WAFU Cup: Wasteful Flying Eagles Battle To Draw Against Cote d’lvoire
“I thought we did enough to pick up the three points against the Ivorians but we lost concentration towards the tail end of the game and were punished for it.
“We controlled the game for most parts and should have won but the red card destabilised my boys and put us out of sync tactically. The clash with Ghana will be tough but we are ready. The boys understand what is at stake and I have confidence they will do the nation proud. Our target here remains the same: winning the tournament and qualifying for the CAF U20 Cup of Nations in Mauritania.”
Mike Zaruma, who captained the team against the Ivorians, echoed Coach Bosso’s optimism.
“Taking only one point from the tie with the Ivorians was a tough one because we played better and created more chances to win the game. We felt disappointed but that is behind us now and Ghana is the focus. We know that we must win to enhance our chances of reaching the knockout stage.
“I believe in what we can do as a team. We are ready to pick the three points against Ghana in order to make Nigerians happy.”
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COMMENTS
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For the Benin vs Togo match in case you want to watch it. it’s the 2nd half though with Benin leading by 2:0.
Thanks brother. This is really helpful.
Criminal agents/cohorts almost dying of hunger now, must be barred from coming near this u-20 and every other national team. Win or no win, we want to be seeing these junior team players play for the local league and becoming very matured in their game. Here is where the sport minister must start to show he meant business with home based invitation to main stream SE. Kick all those scumbag hungry agents\cohort far away from our national. They are the PURE EVIL BEDEVILING our football
Nigerian coaches like to be confident and upbeat even when they forget to do their homework
https://www.facebook.com/AFCON-TV-108522201114518/
For Niger vs Burkina Faso WAFU U20 if you want to watch the live stream
Nigeria vs Ghana . please score?
Nigeria is playing tomorrow not today. I will stream it if the channel shows it which I think they will.
Deo, Kel, Jimmyball, UBFE, Kenneth, Pompei, Omo9ja, AY, Dr. Drey, Cuteprince, can you reach out to me via email, there is something I would like to discuss with you guys and possibly pick your brains. My email is [email protected].
I would appreciate it. Please in the email let me know who u are. I promise I won’t divulge your info to anyone.
Thanks
Ghana is leading as at the 83rd minutes.
_ Will Ghana take their revenge? _
Whilst coach Bosso reaffirms his commitment to winning the WAFU Cup thereby guaranteeing Nigeria’s safe passage to the Under-20 Afcon next year, Ghana’s coach is busy taking advantage of seeing Nigeria play first to plot the Flying Eagles downfall.
“We are going to watch them (Nigeria and Ivory Coast) play,” said Ghana coach Karim Zito on Ghanasoccernet.com.
“Myself and all the players we will sit in one place and after the match, we’ll come together to discuss what we saw and what we feel we should do,” he added in a boisterous mood.
Indeed we (Nigeria) are in a slightly weaker situation because Ghana were able to see us play against Ivory Coast and they would have taken notes. Unfortunately, we are yet to see them play so coach Bosso would need to get his tactics right from the start and if things aren’t working according to plan, he should show flexibility in altering the formation mid-game or introduce an inspired substitution.
Hesitancy could be lethal.
In the last match, Bosso introduced a striker in the dying minutes which led many fans bemused as to what his plans were.
He will need to be more savvy in tomorrow’s match against Ghana as any mistake will prove untenable.
Clearly, there were weaknesses in the way Bosso’s team approached the first game (having conceded a very late equaliser) which will need to be addressed.
“At the end of the day, we will watch [Nigeria’s] weaknesses, and their strategy and where they start their buildup from… and then strategise for our match against Nigeria.” Affirmed Ghana’s coach.
There is usually no shortage of fireworks when Nigeria face Ghana at any level. With the sole Afcon ticket on offer, the stakes in this encounter couldn’t be higher.
Nigeria defeated Ghana 4:2 in the same tournament two years ago which effectively extinguished the Black Starlets hopes of qualifying for last year’s world cup.
They will be eager, not only to avoid a repeat, but also to exert their revenge.
This match will serve as a true test of Ladan Bosso’s coaching credentials, will he measure up?
We haven’t got long to find out!
Nice piece as always @deo.Tomorrow’s game is a big game a draw isn’t bad especially a score draws,but a lose puts us in a very dangerous situation needing Ghana to win better against the Ivorians to have any chance of qualification.
Rather than relying on others to help seal our qualification it would be better to do it ourselves tomorrow it’s not a mission impossible,at youth levels we are head above the Ghanaians but struggles at senior level.
Based on our pedigree and historical advantage over Ghana at this level I’m hoping that should count tomorrow.I hope so.
Hi Greenturf. Longest time bro, thanks. Only an outright win will suffice tomorrow. A draw and we are as good as out because something in me says there will be a winner when Ivory Coast meet Ghana.
A win for us will be a coup though because anecdotal evidence suggests that Ghana camped longer and prepared with more intensity than Nigeria. They are a technical bunch and the they have revenge on their sights.
I pray we get the results we need.
Cheers.
Rightly so @deo.I do hope we are able to carve out a victory it’s not negotiable.The group is tough no doubt.
Should we draw against Ghana and the game between Ghana and the Ivorians finish in a win for either side Nigeria pulls through.This is the reason I would go for a 2 all or 3 all draw rather than a goalless draw because should the Ghanaians draw with the Ivorians numbers of goals scored will decide which two goes through.
However an outright win is best as that would seal qualification and save us all this palmutations but in absence of that I would go for a score draw.
@greenturf, na only three teams dey for d grups? If so, when is Nigeria match taking place today? I don’t want to miss the match.
Yeah @Collins id.Our group has three teams whearas the other four.
I honestly don’t know the time our game starts but I’m sure by noon we should get all the information concerning the game from the media.
Thanks bro. I hope proudly 9ja get us the link to the match, ghana go collect am today.
@Proudly 9ja… Boys are waiting for link for the game between Nigeria u-20 and Ghana U-20. You have done a. Marvelous job so far with the earlier matchups… Kudos boss.
You guys can go to thesame link.
I need the link please
Na wao the boys are trying,but why can’t we see any player we can chose to play for the senior national team each time Nigeria based players are playing,or is it the fault of the coaches not choosing the best players or we don’t have talents anymore?
Officiating is questionable.I have noticed this trend against Nigeria lately in African playoffs but we are mute about this fuelling a repeat in our games I’m really gutted.
It’s strange the Ghanaians for all there rough tackles and pushing they are yet to get a card but we have I already and a red card could follow suit in the second half.So far we have two disallowed goals I wonder if any would be allowed but let the Ghanaians score and see the referee point to the centre.
I really don’t know what will be the outcome of this game I just feel something is not right.We just have to score a clear goal that cannot be ruled out and tighten up our guards.
We need to win this game.We are better and should be up by now had we had a fair officiating.
I hope Pinnick and co should brace up and fight this trend to protect the future of Nigerian football in Africa.
Our coach is truly a joke, I was rooting for him b4 but he just fell my hand in both games
Nigeria is a sleeping Giant… most African nations want to put us down. We had two disallowed goals in this match… probably the referee does not want Nigeria progressing because out of 16 nations in West Africa that is the power house in African soccer you only have two teams to progress to the main Afcon U-20. We are out because even if Ghana loses we will still be bottom of the group. I do not think Ghana will want to do us a favour… Ladan Bosso is a recycled old flop of a coach. NFF should continue with their questionable hiring of coaches… Bosso was just given the position so that Pinnick can be seen as being friendly to North as he has been investigated thoroughly for corruption in the last years. These appointments are just political gratifications.Now you realise why people like Finidi, Ugbade and other serious ex-internationals who want to coach will never be given space. The majority of NFF top bosses run football academies from where they feed coaches who can do their bidding players to national age grade tourneys… I wonder a country as large and blessed with talents as Nigeria will be struggling to have good players for competition like U-17 and U-20. What a shame… welldone to Bosso! However… the officiating against our boys was questionable.
Our boys played well we are never going to progress with officiating like that and we Nigerians just take it in the chin and rather blame the coach.
Before Ghana got that free kick we had a penalty that wasn’t given.Two disallowed goals all this questionable calls will frustrate our boys and kill their zeal.
I have noticed this conspiracy against Nigeria but Nigerians are not bothered so this will carry on since we have a habit of pointing fingers at the coaching crew and the football authorities we shall continue to suffer this poor officiating.
Nigeria is out I do not see Ghana winning against Cote d’ivoire.The Ghanaians aren’t better than the Ivorians.
Lastly,we should learn not to be a father Christmas.Ghana scored and I stopped watching because I know they are not Nigeria who are generous to their opponents.For crying out loud why can’t we defend a lead and see off a game!
Please tell them my brother, we have people making noise about laden boss. The officiating was terrible. 2 goals was disallowed, the stadium was a eye sore. The boys selected try even in the short period they had. Better luck next time
Rubbish team no zeal no meaningful attack chai
Oh boy Bosso don fall hand Oh! Odogu nor be nick name for real, Bosso nor be boss at all.
U can se the post match interview. Same link