The Golden Eaglets have created a ton of opportunities in the tournament, but they have just one goal to show for it
Golden Eaglets coach Nduka Ugbade has promised that his team will be ruthless in front of goal when they play South Africa in their final group game of the 2023 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations, Soccernet.ng reports.
Nigeria have been one of the best teams at the U-17 AFCON so far. Their sleek movements, elegant dribbling, and pace have been a testament to the amount of talent in the team.
The Golden Eaglets also create a lot of goalscoring opportunities. However, their hand is their inability to convert those chances into goals. It was evident in their first game against Zambia.
They eventually won it 1-0, but the same problem haunted them in their second game against Morocco which they lost by a lone goal.
The Golden Eaglets had 27 attempts on goal, but only four were on target, and none rattled the net. Nigeria play South Africa in their final group game, and they are condemned to take at least a draw from the fixture.
Ahead of the game, coach Ugbade has asserted that he is aware of their problems in front of goal. But he promises an improvement when they face South Africa.
“We have put the defeat against Morocco behind our backs and we are fully focused on getting a good result against South Africa,” Ugbade told CAF Media.
“We didn’t deserve to lose against Morocco because we dominated the game but couldn’t convert our chances.
“We want to be more effective, more prolific in front of goal. It is a bit confusing because when we were in Nigeria preparing, we were scoring so many goals but when we came here we are not doing that.
“Sometimes with these young ones, it is about psychology and we have addressed that.”
South Africa have shown that they can bleed. They conceded four goals in their opening two games, so the Golden Eaglets will surely get a lot of openings.
Coach Ugbade would hope that his strikers get into their stride and put the ball in the net on Saturday.