With U20 World Cup Ticket at Stake, Flying Eagles Gun for Senegal’s Jugular
Duro Ikhazuagbe
At the Suez Canal Stadium this afternoon in Egypt, Nigeria’s Flying Eagles must show strength, skills and invention against their Senegalese counterparts with the FIFA Under-20 World Cup ticket at stake.
This quarter-final clash between seven-time champions Nigeria and the defending champions of the tournament Senegal promises to be a bruising battle between arguably two of the best teams in Egypt.
Unbeaten in their Group B campaign, the Flying Eagles finished second behind Lion Cubs from Morocco, and had to proceed to Ismailia for their game against Senegal. Senegal also finished second in their Group C, which also included Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Central African Republic.
Both teams are no strangers to each other. Two years ago, the Lion Cubs from Senegal pipped the Flying Eagles 1-0 in the two teams’ first match of the CAF U20 Championship at the Cairo International Stadium, on the way to the Cubs’ first triumph in the competition, after they defeated Gambia 2-0 in the final. Nigeria finished third in the same competition.
However, Nigeria know they cannot afford to pull any punches this evening as only the semi-finalists will qualify to fly Africa’s flag at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile later in the year. The Flying Eagles came within a nodding distance of the semi-finals at the last FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina, two years ago.
Nigeria converted Senegal to a happy hunting-ground 10 years ago, beating the host nation 3-1 in the opening match of the CAF U20 Championship and then securing a 1-0 win over the Lion Cubs in the final to pick their seventh continental title. In December of the same year, Nigeria’s U23 team won the Africa U23 Cup of Nations in Senegal to qualify to represent Africa at the Rio 2016 Olympics where they won Nigeria’s only bronze medal from the Brazil Games.
Senegal will also flaunt their 2-1 defeat of Nigeria in the Round of 16 of the FIFA U20 World Cup finals in Poland six years ago.
To bolster Coach Aliu Zubair and his wards, General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Mohammed Sanusi, on Saturday called on Flying Eagles to play differently when they confront the Cup holders today.
“I have no doubt that you have the ability to rise to the occasion. Monday is the occasion, because you are not only playing against the defending champions, you also must win to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. The first objective for any team in any competition that is a qualifier for a bigger tournament is to qualify, followed by the second objective of winning the trophy.”
So much will be expected of Nigerian striker Kparobo Arierhi, who has scored only one goal here thus far. Arierhi was venerated as the man to determine the length of Nigeria’s stay in Egypt,
Captain Bameyi, who scored his first competitive goal for the team from the spot against the Rising Stars, will be expected to keep things tight at the back with Odinaka Okoro, Chigozie Ihejiofor and Adamu Maigari also providing cover for goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt.
Zubairu must decide whether to start Divine Oliseh in midfield, alongside Clinton Jephta and Israel Ayuma, or retain Simon Cletus, while Arierhi, Auwal Ibrahim (whose lone goal earned the crucial three points against Tunisia), Ezekiel Kpangu, Precious Benjamin and Mendos Rickson are also available for spaces at the fore.
