U20 Afcon: Wasteful Nigeria bow to the Gambia

By Saheed Afolabi

Nigeria failed to reach a 10th final of the U20 Africa Cup of Nations after losing to the Gambia 1-0 on Monday.

Adama Boyang seventh minute strike condemned the Nigerian side to their second defeat of the tournament.

A miserable mistake gave Boyang acres of space as he raced through on goal to send a powerful strike beyond the Nigeria goalie to the back of the net in the seventh minute.

The Flying Eagles soon woke up from their slumber and dominated proceedings but strings of misplaced passes further made them lose possession easily against the Gambians.

With the Gambians taking the lead to the break, the Nigerians struggled to find an equalizer, dictating possession in the second half but too lack of teamwork made their efforts fruitless in front of goal.

Nigeria was handed a lifeline from the penalty spot when the Gambia goalkeeper brought down forward Ahmed Abdullahi in the 18 yard box in the 86th minute thanks to Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervention.

Abdullahi took on the mandate to take the penalty kick, but his effort hit the goal post to dash the hopes of the Nigeria team in the game.

However, the Gambia were reduced to 10 men as Harona Njie was given his marching orders for a woeful tackle that resulted in him raising his studs.

The win means Gambia will now face the Senegal in the U20 Afcon final both sides are yet to concede a goal in the tournament, while Nigeria will settle for the losers final against the Tunisia, following 3-0 loss to the Senegalese.