Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s U-23 national men’s team will play the winner between Uganda and Guinea in the next round of qualifiers to the CAF U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt next month after defeating Tanzania 2-0 on Saturday evening in the reverse leg of their third round qualifiers that will also take them to the Olympic.
The Nigerian side had picked up a 1-1 draw when they first played against Tanzania in Dar es Salam in the first leg last weekend.
The first half was a difficult phase for both teams as the defensive solidity of both sides ensured it finished scoreless in the first half.
Timileyin Ogunniyi, however, broke the deadlock in the 61st minute of play when his free kick from range had the ball nestle at the top right corner of the Tanzanian net.
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The team’s captain, Success Makanjuola, then doubled the lead three minutes after the opener when he calmly slotted past goalkeeper Aboutwaaley Mshery whom the ball deflected off his arm and went into the net.
The Eagles, coached by Salisu Yusuf, have thus reached the next qualifying stage ahead of the tournament.
The team were boosted by the financial pledge made to them by the Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, who promised the team N10 million and a further sum of $25,000 should the team win on Saturday.
These monies are in addition to the N1m the team will now pocket after Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa promised them N500, 000 for every goal they scored against Tanzania.
The 2022 U-23 AFCON serves as qualifiers to the football event of the 2024 Olympic in Paris.
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.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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