Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s Flying Eagles were beaten 1-0 by South Africa’s U-20 men’s national team on Thursday in the first semifinals of the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, reports Prime Business Africa.
The Nigerian side coached by Aliyu Zubairu were defensively astute but failed to convert any of their scoring chances.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe first half ended on a scoreless note but the South Africans broke the Nigerian low block in the second half after goalkeeper Ifeanyi Harcourt went off injured.
The loss means that Nigeria are unable to win a record 8th U-20 AFCON title.
The Eagles who have qualifed for the FIFA U-20 World Cup to be held in Chile later this year will face the winner of the second semifinals game between Egypt and Morocco for a third place finish.
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.
