U-20 AFCON: Nigeria Bags FIFA World Cup Ticket
- Flying Eagles beat Uganda’s Hippos 1-0 for S-final spot
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI – Nigeria’s Flying Eagles beat the Hippos of Uganda 1-0 to seal the Under-20 AFCON semi-final spot and in the process bagged the ticket to the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be hosted by Indonesia
The biennial international men’s youth football championship, contested by the under-20 national teams of FIFA member associations since its inception in 1977, will hold from Saturday, 20 May 2023 to Sunday, 11 June 2023 in the Southeast Asian nation.
Firmly remaining on the path to a record-extending eighth continental title, the Flying Eagles overcame the East Africans in a keenly contested quarterfinal matchup and are through to the semi-finals of the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
In the encounter decided inside the Suez Canal Authority Stadium on Thursday evening, the Ugandans lived up to their rating as a tough team to beat, but Ibrahim Juma’s own goal was all Nigeria needed to outclass the East Africans and advance to the last-four stage of the competition.
Uganda started the encounter with confidence, which is not unusual for a team that finished top of Group B without suffering a defeat.
But the Flying Eagles, despite missing the services of the influential Daniel Daga, were not short of effort and industry, and their enterprising display yielded fruits on the half-hour mark.
Ibrahim Muhammad broke free on the left flank, but his firm shot came back off the post after it had beaten the Ugandan goalkeeper.
But the ball ricocheted off young defender Juma and trickled back into the net for what proved to be the only goal of the match.
The victory saw Nigeria joining Senegal, which also defeated the Benin Republic 1-0, in the semi-finals round
