Izuchukwu OkosiThe Flying Eagles of Nigeria on Sunday evening were beaten 1-0 by South Korea in their quarterfinals clash of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina at the Stadio Del Estero.
The Nigerian U-20 side were making its 13th appearance in the history of the tournament and has reached the final on two occasions, 1989 in Portugal and in 2005 when a young Lionel Messi led the young Argentina side to lift the title at the expense of Nigeria.
The Flying Eagles midway through the first half created some decent chances but none of them found goal.
The second half also ended in a stalemate but the Koreans broke the deadlock five minutes into the extra time through Seokhyun Choi who evaded the challenge of Kehinde Ibrahim and Benjamin Fredrick to head home.
Second substitute Umeh Emmanuel who was the liveliest of the substitutes that came off the bench twice went close to restoring parity but blazed wide and hit the side netting.
South Korea will face Italy in one of the semifinals matches of the tournament on Thursday.
The Asians defeated Ecuador to reach the quarterfinals while Nigeria outclassed tournament favorites and hosts Argentina to book the ‘last 8’ berth.
Coach Ladan Bosso also led the U-20 side to the quarterfinals stage during his first stint on charge of the team when he led them to the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada.
The Nigerian team is expected back in the country on Tuesday.
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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