Nigeria’s men’s Under-20 side, the Flying Eagles, were 2-0 winners against Italy in their second group game of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, Argentina, on Wednesday night.
The Ladan Bosso-led side moves atop Group D with six points thanks to two second-half efforts from talismanic forwards Salim Fago Lawal and Jude Sunday.
Lawal sent in a flying header into an empty net in the 61st minute after brilliant work inside the box from substitute Umeh Emmanuel, while Sunday’s pace was too much for the Italian defense as he raced past them before finishing with his left foot past goalkeeper Sebastiano Desplanches.
Dogged performance by the ????????Flying Eagles to get the win.
Two in two and a place in the knockout phase.#SoarFlyingEagles #FIFAU20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/QamPmgbtpO
— The NFF ???????? (@thenff) May 24, 2023
The two sides headed into the tie off of opening-day wins, with Nigeria seeing off the Dominican Republic while the Young Azzurris defeated pre-tournament favorites Brazil.
The Flying Eagles were lively from the start, and Daniel Daga tried to test goalkeeper Desplanches, but his low shot was wide off the mark.
From there on, the Italians settled into the game and had more of the ball as they came really close to opening the scoring. Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei was denied his third goal of the tournament as his beautiful strike hit the woodwork, much to the relief of Nigerian goalie Chijioke Aniagboso.
Despite Nigeria having most of the attempts on goal in the first half, the Italians were almost awarded a penalty after Solomon Agbalaka was adjudged to have handled the ball, but Chilean referee Piero Maza ruled in favor of Nigeria and decided there was no penalty after the ball had touched an Italian player’s hand initially.
The game headed into halftime goalless, and the second began in a lethargic fashion as both teams struggled to get controlled possession. However, Nigeria’s No. 9 had other thoughts as he connected with a cross from Emmanuel, who replaced Ibrahim Beji Muhammad and was just on the pitch for 15 minutes.
Emmanuel could have put the tie to bed in the 89th minute after he was through on goal, but the Italian goalie was quick to his feet to clear the ball. Albeit Desplanches’ heroics, the Flying Eagles got a second through Sunday. He left his man dead for pace and hit a left-footed volley past the goalkeeper from an acute angle for his first goal of the tournament.
The Bosso boys have now booked a spot in the round of 16, joining hosts Argentina as the only countries to have made it to the second round. They will face five-time winners Brazil in their final group game at the same venue on Saturday, May 27, at 7 p.m. WAT.
