The Flying Eagles kept up their great streak by defeating Mozambique, the second debutant, to earn a total of 6 points in the Group stage.
Flying Eagles head coach Isah Ladan Bosso has expressed his satisfaction at his team’s triumph against Mozambique, a team from Southern Africa, at the Suelz Canal Stadium.
The Nigerian U-20 squad seemed to have gotten off to a bad start at the 2023 African Cup of Nations after losing their first match against the Young Lions of Teranga by 1–nil.
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria then bounced back from their humiliating loss to the Senegalese to shock Egypt, the host nation, and the four-time winners, 1 goal to zero. They then marched on to thrash the Os Mambas, two goals to nil.
Meanwhile, this competition serves as a qualifying round for those who will represent the continent at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. If the Flying Eagles maintain their high level of play and advance to the tournament’s final four, they will be guaranteed tickets to the global competition.
Commenting on this, the former head coach of Gombe United said that his boy’s comeback performance was in accordance with the objective they had established, which was World Cup qualification.
“We came to Egypt with the mindset of picking one of the tickets to the FIFA U-20 World Cup, and the victory against Mozambique is something that we planned,” The former Adamawa United manager said as quoted by Cafonline.
The manager acknowledged that they put a great deal of effort into the past two wins, which helped them move to the quarterfinal round.
“We worked for it. We have seen them play about two matches in Cairo,” he added.
The manager further described how the Flying Eagles won the game by saying that they played with more confidence and created many chances, which they effectively converted into two goals.
“We tried to rush them, and we did just that and got our two goals in the first half. In the second half, we introduced other players, preparing them for the next stage.”
The Nigeria under-20 team will play their quarterfinal opponent on Thursday, March 2, 2023, in an effort to clinch a World Cup ticket.
