Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s Flying Eagles finished their campaign in the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt with a 4-1 victory over the hosts after penalty shootouts.
The Flying Eagles also won the bronze medals when Nigeria hosted the
finals in 1995, and in 2009 in Rwanda and 2013 in Algeria.
The game ended 1-1 in regulation time before the penalties was required to know the third-placed side.
The team will likely be shored up before the World Cup in Chile.
Prime Business Africa here presents four observations from the game.
1. Goalkeeping prospects
The tournament saw the Flying Eagles deploy three goalkeepers in their six games.
Ifeanyi Harcourt was first choice goalie but missed the third place game through injury.
That handed opportunities to the duo of Soliu Ajia Yakub and Rafiu Abubakar.
Yakub was in goal in the second half against South Africa after Harcourt crooked the injury.
A gaffe from the latter led to South Africa’s goal, and when the team faced Egypt, coach Aliyu Zubairu opted to go with Abubakar.
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The trust in the keepers shows that there are really no dearth of upcoming prospects in that position.
2. Goal Shy Eagles
The Flying Eagles scored only four goals in open play in Egypt.
That was a disturbing statistic that needs to be sorted out before the U-20 World Cup in Chile.
Kparobo Arierhi is the team’s top striker but he did not produce his best moments in the north African country.
3. Egypt delay tactic
The Egyptians were always willing to hit the deck at the slightest touch.
With the game petering away, they resorted to time-wasting means.
4. Zubairu rang the changes
Head coach Aliyu Zubairu made five changes to the team that started against South Africa.
The intention by the coach was clear but the lack of cohesion showed as they struggled to fashion out chances.
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.
