Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria will not play in the final of the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt after a 1-0 defeat to South Africa. The team coached by Aliyu Zubairu were on the chase for a record 8th U-20 AFCON title but would have to make do with a third place playoff. Prime Business Africa’s IZUCHUKWU OKOSI provides the observations from this game.
1. Wasteful chances
The Flying Eagles wasted numerous scoring chances.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Nigerian attack had 22 shots but only five of them were on target.
In contrast, South Africa had just six shots and only two were on target – one of them being the goal.
The lost chances highlights the need for the Eagles to convert their scoring chances.
The coaching crew would have to improve on this area before the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.
2. South Africa Defensive Discipline
The South African defence knew beforehand that they would be dealing with arguably the best attacking side in the tournament.
They defended in numbers and played for each other.
There were hardly any individual lapses in their organization.
3. Physical Game
The game was a grudge one between two African football rivals.
There were too many tackles flying around.
Nigeria made 25 tackles while South Africa had 12 after the full time statistics.
Both teams are rivals at all age grades but thankfully there has not been any news of injury setbacks so far.
4. Yakub Error
The substitute keeper was at fault for the only goal of the game after replacing the injured Ifeanyi Harcourt.
Hopefully the latter regains full fitness ahead of the third place final.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
