Nigeria Flying Eagles defender Abel Ogwuche was in Cloud 7 after Nigeria scaled the Ugandan hurdle to pick a semi-final slot of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations and also the qualification for the FIFA U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
With a semi-final clash with the winner of Friday’s Gambia versus South Sudan clash, the Nigeria side will be hoping for a podium finish at the tournament.
According to Cafonline, Ogwuche said that the victory over Uganda in their U- quarter-final match was a feeling as the Flying Eagles secured a World Cup ticket.
He was named Man of the Match in Thursday’s thrilling match at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismailia.
“It is a great feeling to win and it was our dream from the start of the tournament to get the World Cup ticket and down we’re looking forward to taking the trophy home,” Abel said at his post match press conference.
Ibrahim Juma scored an own goal in the first half to send Nigeria to the semi-final of the biennial U-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
“We just wanted to come and win. That was our motivation today, to secure the World Cup ticket and we made it,” Abel said with a broad smile.
“We had to secure our place in the World Cup. That’s why we all put in a strong performance to win.”
Nigeria will face the winner between The Gambia and South Sudan in the semi-finals on Monday, 6 March at the Cairo International Stadium at 19h00 local time (17h00 GMT).
