Seven-time champions Nigeria and hosts and four-time champions Egypt will both fight hard for the bronze medals when they clash in the third-place match of the ongoing Africa U20 Cup of Nations finals in Cairo on Sunday.
Both teams were rated by pundits to emerge from their semi-final clashes, but the result went the other way and they are now due to play the losers’ final at the 30 June Air Defence Stadium in downtown Cairo.
Morocco and South Africa will tango in a repeat of the 1997 Final, which the Atlas Cubs won 1-0 in Meknes.
It is the fifth time that Nigeria, who won the title in 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2005, 2011 and 2015 will be playing for the bronze medals. For Egypt, it will be the fourth time. Both have won the bronze medals three times previously.
Also, both Nigeria and Egypt contested the 2005 Final in Cotonou, with the Flying Eagles coming out top following a 2-0 win. Isaac Promise (of blessed memory) scored both goals.
As hosts in 1995, after losing their semi final tie to Cameroon in Kaduna, the Flying Eagles defeated Mali 1-0 in Lagos to pick up the bronze medals. In 2009 in Rwanda, the team led by Haruna Lukman defeated South Africa’s Amajita 2-1 to place third in the competition.
Nigeria’s first participation in the Africa U20 Cup of Nations was in 1979, when the team led by Sylvanus Okpala lost 1-2 on aggregate (0-1 in Conakry and 1-1 in Lagos) to Guinea and thus failed to qualify for the second edition of the global finals staged by Japan.
Head Coach Aliyu Zubairu may ring changes in the squad for today’s game. The gaffer voiced his disappointment with the playing body following Thursday’s defeat to the Amajita.
Injured first-choice goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt is still under observation and would need a second assessment at Saturday night’s official training, to determine if he will be fit to return to the battlefield. Captain Daniel Bameyi, Odinaka Okoro, Adamu Maigari and Emmanuel Chukwu are the probables for rearguard.
Israel Ayuma has had an impressive tournament and should start in midfield, alongside any two among Sulyman Alabi, Simon Cletus, Divine Oliseh and Auwal Ibrahim. Clinton Jephta, Kparobo Arierhi, Tahir Maigana, Bidemi Amole, Precious Benjamin and Mendos Rickson are available for selection in the forward-line.
