By Aliyu DANLADI
The Flying Eagles on Saturday affirmed their superiority over their Mauritanian counterparts by defeating them 5-0 to qualify 6-1 aggregate for the 2019 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
TBI Africa reports that in the match played at the Agege Stadium in Lagos Nigeria were emphatic in qualifying as they completely overwhelmed their opponents.
Nigeria were quick to take off from where they stopped a week ago in the first leg match of the fixture in Nouakchott which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Wasiu Alalade put them in front with a well-taken shot in the 15th minute and, after a flurry of missed chances, the national under-20 male football side doubled their lead.
This was through Nafizi Yahaya in the 33rd minute, who went on to complete his brace with a cool finish after being one-on-one with the visiting goalkeeper in first half added time.
Aniekeme Okon scored the fourth goal in the 67th minute while the fifth goal came in the 90th minute through Afeez Aremu.
Ikouwem Udoh, Flying Eagles captain, later attributed the victory to hardwork and the belief he and his teammates had in themselves that they could do the job.
“I thank God for the victory and I also thank my teammates for working hard and believing in our strength.
“We told ourselves today that, above all things, we must win and send the Mauritanians out of the competition. Thank God we were able to achieve that,” he said.
It would be recalled that Mauritania’s Junior Mourabitounes had in the qualifiers’ earlier rounds dismissed Guinea and Morocco, and the Flying Eagles now head to Niger Republic for the U-20 AFCON.
The final competition is scheduled for Feb. 2 to Feb. 17.
