Egypt 2023: Nigeria U20 hit six past Moroccan club in final friendly

By Wale Mustapha

Nigeria U20 contingent on Wednesday handed a 6-1 bashing of a Moroccan club, Kawtab Athletic in their final preparatory match for the African U20 Cup of Nations billed for Egypt later this month.

Ladan Bosso’s boys made the game a one sided affair as the West Africans dominated for the entire proceedings and complimented with barrages of goals.

Midfielder Aminu Mohammed gave the Nigerian side the lead by scoring from the opening seconds of the game with an aplomb from edge of the box before Ibrahim Muhammad doubled the lead from a solo effort in the 17th minute.

Forward Samson Lawal make it three for Nigeria with a beautiful effort from outside of the box but Kawbab Athletic reduced the deficit through Youssef Bouji’s close range effort five minutes after the half hour mark.

Emmanuel Uchegbu, however, stepped in to restore the three-goal cushion in the 36th minutes after a brilliant team effort before right back Augustine Njoku bumped forward to score as first half ended 5-1 in favour of the Flying Eagles.

Substitute Nicholas Jonathan benefited from a fine assist from Haliru Sarki to deliver the sixth goal for Nigeria.

The big win brought to an exciting end the Flying Eagles’ preparations for the AFCON U20 tourney as the team head out of Morocco to Cairo for the U20 finals.

They will start the campaign against Senegal’s Terranga Lioness at the Cairo International Stadium starting from 9pm Egypt time on Sunday, 19th February.

All four semi-finalists at the 12-team championship in Egypt will qualify to fly Africa’s flag at the FIFA U20 World Cup finals to be staged in Indonesia 20th May – 11th June this year.