Julius OkorieAhead of their must win semi-final clash against Amajita of South Africa on Thursday, Flying Eagles Coach, Aliyu Zubairu, says his team will pop up the volume in their quest to hit the final.
Although the seven-time champions made it to the semi-finals of the ongoing championship in Egypt, they were not very clinical in previous matches but performed better in the quarter-final clash against defending champions Senegal.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelZubairu, aware that there were shortfalls in the performances of the team, has assured that the loopholes will be blocked and the fire power increased in Thursday’s showdown against rivals South Africa who are dreaming of winning their first title in the land of the Pharaohs.
Zubairu who has been gingering his lads ahead of the match hammering on the need to push past matches behind and focus on the present said, “I believe we are going to have a great semi-final against the South Africans. I can guarantee that our approach will be much better, as the anxiety of whether or not we will earn a FIFA World Cup ticket is no longer there. It was a tense 120 minutes for ourselves and the defending champions on Monday.
“We have the World Cup ticket now and are quite happy. Against South Africa, we will play with great determination and composure, as we aim for the trophy, but without the tense atmosphere around the last match. Of course, we know the little matter of the rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa and what the game means, and we will go in there to do a real battle,” Zubairu said.
Zubairu who led El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri to win last year’s President Federation Cup believes his team has improved with every match and not about to slack despite pocketing the much needed World Cup tic
“We can all see that the team has improved, and actually getting better with each match. We will go all out against the South Africans.”
Apart from their seven titles, Nigeria had also finished as runners-up on two occasions (1999 and 2007), and as bronze medallists on two other occasions as well (2009 and 2013)
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Amajita’s first experience of the U20 Africa Cup of Nations was in 1997, and they finished as runners-up to hosts and winners Morocco. Nigeria did not qualify for the finals. Four years later, in Ethiopia, both Nigeria and South Africa finished bottom of their pool and exited at the group stage in what remains Nigeria’s worst outing ever in the history of the tournament.
In 2009, Nigeria defeated South Africa 2-1 for bronze, and four years later defeated Mali by the same margin to also pick up the bronze medals in Algeria.
As hosts in 2011, the Amajita crashed out at the group stage after winning one and losing two matches, while Nigeria went ahead to clinch her sixth title with a 3-2 defeat of Cameroon in the final in Soweto.
In 2015, Nigeria grabbed her seventh title in Senegal, while South Africa failed to survive the group stage after losses to Ghana and Mali. Eight years ago, Nigeria didn’t qualify for the competition when South Africa finished in fourth place.
In 2019, in Niger Republic, Nigeria defeated South Africa 5-3 after penalty shootout to win the bronze medals, after both teams had tied scoreless in a group phase encounter.
In the second semi-final tomorrow, hosts and four-time winners Egypt will slug it out with 1997 winners Morocco who are eager to join the league of countries that have won the title at least twice. Countries with multiple titles in the kitty are Nigeria 7, Ghana 4 and Egypt 4.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
