Nigeria’s Under 20 national side, the Flying Eagles, have been knocked out of the men’s football event of the Africa Games currently held in Ghana following a 3-2 defeat by West African rivals Senegal.
The Ladan Bosso-led team took an early lead in the second minute through Charles Agada in the match played at the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday and would have wished to bank on that sort of momentum to at least bag the much-needed draw that would have been enough to see them advance to the next round.
Idrissa Traore, however, equalized for the Young Terango Lions in the 21st minute when his low shot beat the goalkeeper.
The Senegalese went on to take the lead against the Flying Eagles before Chibuzor Izuogu put Nigeria back into the game when he equalized via a brilliant free kick in the second half to make it 2-2.
Pape Diouf then converted from the penalty for the winning goal and sent the current African champions at this level to the semi-finals, where medals are up for grabs.
The Flying Eagles ended their campaign with only one victory, against South Sudan. They lost their opening group match 2-1 to Uganda and their last group game 3-2 to Senegal.
Nigeria finished third in the group behind Uganda and Senegal, with South Sudan coming in fourth.
Nigeria coach Bosso disappointed after Flying Eagles loss at Africa Games
The Flying Eagles coach, Ladan Bosso, speaking after the game, said that he was disappointed with the outcome of the game and of their run in the competition but was also quick to blame poor preparations for the unconvincing performance.
“I’m disappointed because this game was the best we have played so far in this tournament,” Bosso said.
”I didn’t have enough time to scout for players, and what I did was watch a few games in Uyo and other places. That’s where I saw the two Enyimba players, Daga and Chibueze.”
Bosso had come under scrutiny in recent times, especially after seeing his team play second-best to other teams in the group stages.
He admitted that his team was under pressure before the second group game but said that he was used to it.
“I have the heart to absorb pressure, but you know we’re dealing with youth players, so if you show concern, it can affect them,” replied Bosso when asked about his reaction to Nigerian criticism after the loss to Uganda.
Considering the recent results and performances – since Bosso had been in charge of the Flying Eagles, he had only managed a bronze medal, a quarterfinal exit in the Under 20 World Cup, and elimination from the Africa Games – these results have been dubbed unsatisfactory.
Some stakeholders are hoping that the Nigeria Football Federation should relieve the current president of the Coaches Association in Nigeria of his duties with the Flying Eagles and make it open for coaches who are ready to effect proper developmental skills and harnessing talents in charge of the team.
The same had been done to the Golden Eaglets and the Super Eagles coaches after not-so-convincing performances and results.
Nigeria still waiting for another Africa Games gold medal
Since the first Africa Games were hosted in Brazzaville, Congo in 1965, Nigeria's male team had only won the football gold medal once, and that was back in 1973 when it was hosted in Lagos, Nigeria.
Since then, Nigeria have gone on to win silver medals thrice by finishing as runners-up, with the last one coming in Rabat, Morocco in 2019 and the previous ones coming in 1978, hosted by Algiers, and in Abuja back in 2003.
The team also managed three bronze medals in 1991, 1995, and 2015 at the Africa Games hosted by Cairo, Egypt, Harare, Zimbabwe, and Congo-Brazzaville, respectively.
