‘Something that we planned’ – Ladan Bosso revels in Nigeria win over Mozambique

Nigeria U20 men’s national team head coach Ladan Bosso has revealed his happiness after his team’s 2-0 triumph against Mozambique in the final Group A match of the U20 Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.

Goals from forwards Samson Lawal and Ibrahim Muhammad gave Nigeria the second win of the group stages and guaranteed a quarter-final ticket at the 23rd Africa U20 Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Having finished second in Group A after a defeat and two wins, the manager expressed joy over his side’s resurgence.

“We came to Egypt with the mindset of picking one of the tickets to the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the victory against Mozambique is something that we planned,” the former Adamawa United manager told media.

“We worked for it. We have seen them play about two matches in Cairo. We tried to rush them, and we did just that and got our two goals in the first half. In the second half, we introduced other players, preparing them for the next stage.”

Nigeria will face Group B’s runner-up at the Cairo International Stadium, which could be either of Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan, after the Central African Republic were eliminated from the competition with losses in two matches.

Group B are bound to play their final matches on Sunday, with Uganda slugging it out with South Sudan in Ismaila, and Congo taking on the already-eliminated Central African Republic in Cairo.

The 12-nation competition serves as a qualifying round for those who will represent the continent at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.