Flying Eagles head coach Aliyu Zubairu has praised his players’ determination after their hard-fought 3-2 victory over Saudi Arabia at the FIFA U-20 World Cup on Friday, while setting his sights firmly on their next challenge against Colombia, Bold Sports reports
Nigeria bounced back from their opening-day defeat to Norway with goals from Salihu Nasiru, Amos Ochoche and captain Daniel Bameyi, whose late penalty sealed the team’s first three points of the tournament.
The result lifted the Flying Eagles to third in Group F and kept their hopes of advancing to the round of 16 alive.
Speaking after the match, Zubairu credited his players for showing the right mentality.
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“The players made up their minds that they had to go all out for the three points here and that is what motivated them, and now it’s simple that we have to go all out for the three points against Colombia, it’s as simple as that,” he said.
The Flying Eagles will now face group leaders Colombia in their final group fixture, needing another strong performance to secure qualification for the knockout rounds.
For Saudi Arabia, there is a slight positive as Amar Al Yuhaybi was on target during the encounter, and his strike ensured that all 24 teams have now scored at least once at this tournament, the first time that has happened since New Zealand 2015.
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