Nigeria’s U-20 national team, the Flying Eagles, yesterday extended their bronze medals finishing in the Africa U-20 Nations Cup to number 4, following their 4-0 victory over the Junior Carthage Eagles of Tunisia.
No team has won the third-place match of the Africa U-20 Nations Cup more than the Flying Eagles. The Nigerian triumphed in 1995, 2005, and 2013. They lost only one of the third-place matches in 2019 when they suffered a defeat to South Africa.
The Flying Eagles had won the African U-20 Nations Cup a record seven times. At yesterday’s third-place match at the Cairo International Stadium, the Flying Eagles took an early raid on the Junior Carthage Eagles of Tunisia, with Ibrahim Muhammed opening scores for Nigeria in the 9th minute. The first half ended 1-0 for the Flying Eagles.
The second half resumed on a brighter note for the Flying Eagles, with Ahmed Abdullahi and Jude Sunday increasing the goals tally to three. While Abdullahi scored in the 46th minute, Sunday struck two minutes later to take the game beyond the North Africans. Another goal by Jude Sunday in the 94th minute saw the Isa Ladan Bosso-led Flying Eagles giving a parting gift of ‘golden bronze’ to President Muhammadu Buhari, who will vacate office in May.
The Flying Eagles had suffered a lone-goal defeat to The Gambias’ Young Scorpions on Monday in their semifinal encounter. The defeat notwithstanding, the Flying Eagles qualified for the World Cup, which will hold in Indonesia. Today will see two West African countries, Senegal and The Gambia, battle in the final.
