Izuchukwu Okosi
Flying Eagles defenders, Augustin Njoku and Solomon Agbalaka emerged two of the eleven players that were named in the CAF Best X1 of the 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Egypt, reports Prime Business Africa.
The continent’s football ruling body released the list of the tournament’s best players on Sunday evening which featured four players of the winning team of Senegal.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe Gambia and Congo had two of their players on the list while one comes from Uganda.
READ ALSO: Four-star Flying Eagles Claims CAF U-20 AFCON 3rd Place
Agbalaka was named Man-of-Match winner in the 1-0 win against hosts, Egypt – and against Mozambique in the group stages of the tournament.
Njoku played four games for the Nigerian side but missed out on the starting lineups in the semifinals and 3rd place final.
Some Nigerian players expected to make the cut but missed out on the CAF XI including centre back, Benjamin Frederick and forward, Ibrahim Muhammad.
Nigeria who are seven-time winners of the tournament formerly called the African Youth Championship will join Tunisia, The Gambia and Senegal as African representatives at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia between May 20 and June 11, 2023.
Nigeria’s best finish at the FIFA U-20 World Cup was the runners-up finish in 1989 and 2005 when Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands hosted the tournament.
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.
