Izuchukwu Okosi
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria on Friday evening defeated Tunisia 4-0 to finish third at this year’s CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, reports Prime Business Africa.
The seven-time African champions had already booked their ticket to the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia as one of the four semifinalists but were not able to gun for the eighth title following the loss to Gambia in the semifinals.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe last time the Flying Eagles finished third at the U-20 AFCON was in 2013.
Jude Sunday scored a brace while Ibrahim Muhammad and Ahmed Abdullahi grabbed the other goals at the Cairo International Stadium.
Muhammad put Nigeria ahead in the ninth minute when he latched onto a pass from the captain, Daniel Bameyi and poked home.
Belgium-bound Abdullahi went close to scoring the next goal for the Nigerian side but his 20th minute shot was saved.
Tunisia had a goal disallowed by VAR for an offside but
threatened to come back into the game with some spirited performances afterwards.
READ ALSO: AFCON U-20: Flying Eagles Beats Uganda, Qualifies for FIFA U-20 World Cup
Abdullahi who has had very average showings in previous matches, however, doubled the lead early in the second half when he dispossessed a Tunisian of the ball before unleashing a belter.
Sunday got his brace in the match when he let fly a shot at the edge of the box after an intelligent pass from Samson Lawal.
Olamilekan Adams was close to getting on the scoresheet after racing on to a through pass only to hit his shot in the side netting.
Tunisia almost pulled a goal back with five minutes left to play only for goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagboso, who had a jittery start to the game, to deny them with a superb save.
Sunday then made it 4-0 with an assured finish on the stroke of 90 minutes and was substituted before the final whistle.
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.
