Flying Eagles head coach Ladan Bosso has revealed his team’s target at the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations tournament after their victory over Mozambique on Saturday.
Two breathtaking goals from Samson Lawal and Ibrahim Muhammad in the first-half secured maximum points for the Bosso-led team as they defeated the Mambas 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the U-20 AFCON as the second-place team in Group A.
The experienced gaffer reiterated that their sole goal at the competition is to ensure qualification for the FIFA U-20 World Cup later this year by reaching the semifinals of the tournament in Egypt.
“We came to Egypt with the mindset of picking one of the tickets to the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the victory against Mozambique is something that we planned,” he told CAF media.
“We worked for it. We have seen them play about two matches in Cairo.
“We tried to rush them and we did just that and got our two goals in the first half. The second half we introduced other players preparing them for the next stage,” he added.
Furthermore, the manager went on to heap praises on exceptional defender Solomon Agbalaka, who won the Man of the Match award for the second game in a row after his goal gave the Nigerians their first win against Egypt.
“It is expected [MOM award] because he’s somebody that I heard of and I had to leave Abuja to Lagos on two occasions to watch him play for his team,” the coach said.
“I booked him down then I went to Ikeja for a scouting programme. I saw him play from the centre back so I had to sit him down. We talked so I decided to shift him to left full-back.
“I believe somebody can play from left back and centre back so he’s a good addition to the team so I saw him and followed up and I invited him to the camp.”
Time to announce our #MOZNGA TotalEnergies Man of The Match. 🤩
Congratulations, Solomon Agbalaka! 🏅🔝#TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 | @Football2Gether pic.twitter.com/SpvXZMb4kd
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 (@CAF_Online) February 25, 2023
The Flying Eagles have turned their campaign around after a dismal opening-day performance against Senegal as they look to win their eighth U-20 AFCON title.
They will now face the winners of Group B in the quarterfinals at the Suez Canal Stadium at 6pm WAT on Thursday, March 2nd.
