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End of the road! Flying Eagles downed by Gambia

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Nigeria’s U20 boys, Flying Eagles, failed to reach the 17th Africa U20 Cup of Nations Final after losing 1-0 to The Gambia’s Young Lions in the second semi-final played at the Cairo International Stadium on Monday evening.
 
Lanky forward Adama Bojang capitalized on a defensive slip by captain Daniel Bameyi to slot beyond goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagboso for the only goal of the match in the 7th minute. It was the only goal Aniagboso had conceded in the tournament.
 
Nigeria’s rapid raiders Ibrahim Muhammad, Samson Lawal, Haliru Sarki and Francis Abubakar failed to get their strikes on target, and in the second half, Belgium-based forward Ahmed Abdullahi struck the base of the upright from the penalty spot as the Flying Eagles put every foot wrong.
 
Defender Benjamin Frederick showed grit and intention in the 77th minute, but his efforts were foiled close to goal. Two minutes into added time, Onuche Ogbelu’s rising shot rose too high.

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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