The Flying Eagles of Nigeria are out of this year's edition of the World Youth Championship after bowing 1-2 to the superior fire-power of Uruguay in a second round encounter.
A brace from AS Roma forward Nicolas Lopez were all the South American outfit needed to ease past their Nigerian opposition in the match played at the Ali Yen Arena, Istanbul on Tuesday evening. The Flying Eagles pulled one back through Kayode Olarenwaju, but it could not inspire the hard fighting Nigerians from bowing out of the competition.
The ill-tempered game which saw the centre referee, Milorad Mazic issuing six yellow cards and a red card began with the South American dominating proceedings from the blast off the whistle.
However, it was Nigeria through Kayode Olarenwaju who came close to scoring first after Umar had threatened the Uruguayan backline with some piece of fantastic dribbles, but could not find the back of the net.
The likes of Abdul Ajagun and Babatunde Michael tried to break through the Uruguayan defence but Lopez and Cristoforo were always at alert to put the Africans under constant check. For the larger part of the first half, both sides failed to get the curtain edge as they played with maximum caution .
With the half-time break beckoning, Aminu Umar forced a save from De Amores after receiving a well tailored pass from Shehu Abdullahi.
While it seems the coach Obuh led lads are gradually coming into the game, they were dealt a massive blow with Shehu given the marching order for a reckless tackle on Diego Laxalt within the Nigeria territory. Playing with a man down, Aminu Umar was sacrificed for Moses Orkhuma.
On resumption of the second half, the Nigerians looked more dangerous in the attack with Salisu Gero combining effectively upfront with Ovbokha Agboyi to torment the opponents’ defence but the Varel anchored defence set up curtailed the attacking forays of the West African country.
The Uruguayans continued to mount pressure on the Onyinye Ndidi marshaled defence, and were soon rewarded in the 65th minute when AS Roma’s Nicolas Lopez scored the easiest of goals tapping in from a well taken De Arrascaeta’s free-kick.
Four minutes later, theFlying Eagles bounced back to life courtesy of a breathe-taking equalizer from Kayode Olarenwaju. He took the ball from halfway line, breezed into the Uruguayan defence unmarked before unleashing a rocket from the edge of the South Americans’ goal area. Seconds later, Olaitan Michael went close to give his side the lead but his effort from long range went side-netting.
La Celeste however got the winner with six minutes left from regulation time from the penalty spot well taken by Lopez after substitute, Diego Rolan was brought down by Onyinye Ndidi who tried to cover for goalie, Okani who had misjudged a loose ball.
Though Nigeria powered back in search of the re-equalizer, it proved a wild goose chase. Uruguay will now square up with Spain in the quarter final.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayA brace from AS Roma forward Nicolas Lopez were all the South American outfit needed to ease past their Nigerian opposition in the match played at the Ali Yen Arena, Istanbul on Tuesday evening. The Flying Eagles pulled one back through Kayode Olarenwaju, but it could not inspire the hard fighting Nigerians from bowing out of the competition.
The ill-tempered game which saw the centre referee, Milorad Mazic issuing six yellow cards and a red card began with the South American dominating proceedings from the blast off the whistle.
However, it was Nigeria through Kayode Olarenwaju who came close to scoring first after Umar had threatened the Uruguayan backline with some piece of fantastic dribbles, but could not find the back of the net.
The likes of Abdul Ajagun and Babatunde Michael tried to break through the Uruguayan defence but Lopez and Cristoforo were always at alert to put the Africans under constant check. For the larger part of the first half, both sides failed to get the curtain edge as they played with maximum caution .
With the half-time break beckoning, Aminu Umar forced a save from De Amores after receiving a well tailored pass from Shehu Abdullahi.
While it seems the coach Obuh led lads are gradually coming into the game, they were dealt a massive blow with Shehu given the marching order for a reckless tackle on Diego Laxalt within the Nigeria territory. Playing with a man down, Aminu Umar was sacrificed for Moses Orkhuma.
On resumption of the second half, the Nigerians looked more dangerous in the attack with Salisu Gero combining effectively upfront with Ovbokha Agboyi to torment the opponents’ defence but the Varel anchored defence set up curtailed the attacking forays of the West African country.
The Uruguayans continued to mount pressure on the Onyinye Ndidi marshaled defence, and were soon rewarded in the 65th minute when AS Roma’s Nicolas Lopez scored the easiest of goals tapping in from a well taken De Arrascaeta’s free-kick.
Four minutes later, theFlying Eagles bounced back to life courtesy of a breathe-taking equalizer from Kayode Olarenwaju. He took the ball from halfway line, breezed into the Uruguayan defence unmarked before unleashing a rocket from the edge of the South Americans’ goal area. Seconds later, Olaitan Michael went close to give his side the lead but his effort from long range went side-netting.
La Celeste however got the winner with six minutes left from regulation time from the penalty spot well taken by Lopez after substitute, Diego Rolan was brought down by Onyinye Ndidi who tried to cover for goalie, Okani who had misjudged a loose ball.
Though Nigeria powered back in search of the re-equalizer, it proved a wild goose chase. Uruguay will now square up with Spain in the quarter final.
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Those players lacked football sense. Their mode of play lacked good rhythm. The coordination was so poor. I know that they cannot go far and pray that Nigeria will not seek them to grow to be future super eagles.
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