The Nigeria U20 team were yesterday pegged back in their quest to reach the final of the ongoing Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt following a 1-0 loss to Gambia in the semi final.
OGN editor in chief Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman takes a look at the good, the bad side and the not too good things he noticed about the Nigerian team at the tournament.
The Good:
The main aim of the tournament is a ticket to the U20 World Cup and they secured that. Aside from that one can easily pick three players in this Nigerian team who can be said to have impressed at the tournament despite their failure to make it to the final.
One area where Nigeria has struggled in recent times when it comes to youth football is in the area of defence and goakeepers. This team is a departure from that trend at least based on what we saw at the AFCON. Chijioke Anigboso stood out in goal with commanding displays.
Benjamin Fredrick and Abel Ogwuche combined at the heart of defence like they have been playing together for ages. In midfield Onuche Ogbelu is one to be tracked for the future, the same as Mohamed Aminu. They showed something to suggest that.
The Bad:
Failure to make it to the final despite playing one of their best football at the tournament against Gambia. Ahmed Abdullahi comes in here as he was the man relied on by Ladan Bosso to deliver the goals but he got himself sent off in the first game. Suspended for the crucial second game, which they won in his absence.
Yesterday, he had the chance of redeeming what has been a poor tournament by his standards but he missed the late vital spot kick that would have dragged the game into extra time. Far from the player who scored two goals at WAFU and hard to believe he currently has 12 goals for the U18 of Gent. He had a very bad tournament.
He wasn’t alone though, the captain of the team Daniel Bamaiyi falls into the group but we will look at his case as a discussion for another day.
The Ugly:
They didn’t play like a typical Nigerian team. Good ball players as individuals but when they try to play collectively as a team it was an eye sore particularly in attack. Never before has a Nigerian team played three games at a tournament at this level and scored five goals with none coming from little intricate passes with runs behind.
First goal was from a corner kick, the second and third goal were spectacular long range efforts. The last goal they scored at the tournament before yesterday was an over the top pass which was recorded as an own goal with Mohammed Beji effort coming off the woodwork to hit a returning player.
Watching the team play in the final third was as ugly as it could get for any Nigerian team. Bosso has time to fix this up and he has to else the team might be an embarrassment at the World Cup.
