Izuchukwu OkosiNigeria’s U-20 national team, Flying Eagles, began their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations campaign in Egypt on a losing note Sunday evening with a 1-0 defeat to the junior Teranga Lions of Senegal.
The U-20 tournament serves as qualifiers to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia but Ladan Bosso’s team have put themselves in a very difficult position after a disappointing game at the Cairo International Stadium.
The team finished the match with 10 players after striker Ahmed Abdullahi received two yellow cards within 15 minutes of coming off the substitute bench.
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The Flying Eagles were presented with a couple of good chances to score but it was Senegal that eventually went ahead in the 40th minute through Mame Faye who pounced on the rebound when goalkeeper Nathaniel Nwosu spilled a low shot onto his path.
The Eagles proligacy in attack continued and they almost went 2-0 behind but had the impressive centreback, Benjamin Frederick to thank for having a great game.
The towering defender was Nigeria’s outstanding player alongside the injured midfielder, Daniel Daga, who was substituted after a knee injury.
Nigeria’s next Group A match is against hosts, Egypt, who were held to a scoreless draw by Mozambique in the opening the of the tournament on Sunday.
Nigeria are seven-time champions of the tournament formerly called the African Youth Championship.
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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