‘Football is cruel’ – Ladan Bosso laments U20 Afcon semi-final loss to the Gambia

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Nigeria’s head coach Ladan Bosso has lamented his side’s 1-0 loss to the Gambia in the semi-final of the 2023 U-20 African Cup of Nations at the Cairo International Stadium on Monday evening.

The seven-time African champions failed to reach their 10th Afcon Final after losing to The Young Scorpions no thanks to Adama Bojang’s seventh minute effort to end goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagboso’s  tournament clean sheet.

Belgium-based forward Ahmed Abdullahi struck the base of the upright from the penalty spot for wasteful Flying Eagles and the manager is yet to get over the heartbreaking loss.

“We lost stupidly, we were naive from the start,” a disappointed Bosso said during his post-match reactions.

“We failed to take our chances and we also missed the penalty in the 86th minute. I am very frustrated because we had the team to go all the way. Football is cruel. We didn’t measure up. I congratulate The Gambia for winning.”

Seven-time champions Nigeria will play for the bronze medals against Tunisia on Friday.