6 February 2019 — Nigeria’s National Under-20 head coach, Paul Osahon Aigbogun, admitted that they came into their second CAF Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations Group A encounter against South Africa (Amajita) looking for a win.

Aigbogun however, said good discipline in Amajita’s play derailed their ambitions of reaching the knockout stages of this continental tournament after two group games.

“We actually came into this encounter hoping for a win,” Aigbogun said. “However, we played against a very strong side who were very organized in how they approached this match and were consistent in their performance. We will take this point and try to do our utmost best in our upcoming group game.”

As it stands, Nigeria are top of Group A with four points, while South Africa are third with two behind second placed hosts Niger, who have a better goal difference against them.

Amajita coach Thabo Senong applauded his charges for a solid performance in that match, adding that they now need to make sure that they secure a win in their final Group A match against Burundi.

That crucial Group A match will take place on 8 February 2019 in the city of Maradi at 17H30 (SA time).

“We had two objectives which we wanted to achieve going into this Nigeria match,” Senong said.

“One was not to concede and the other was to try and produce a goal in this tie. We only managed to achieve one objective because we were playing against a very organized side in defence. Our focus now shifts to our final group match against Burundi, where we will have to work really hard to produce the needed result.

“Scoring goals in any match is a team’s responsibility,” Senong added. “This is one aspect we are going to work really hard on in training so that we can produce the desired result against Burundi in our final group encounter.”