Nigeria’s national U-20 team, the Flying Eagles were far from being impressive as they lost their 2023 African Games group B opening match to the Hippos of Uganda 2-1.
As against all expectations, the Flying Eagles fell behind in the encounter after soaking a lot of pressure for 37th minute.
Uganda’s Usama Arafat reached a pass from a team mate in the Flying Eagles 18 yard box and colly slotted the ball past the Nigerian goalie.
However, Nigerian striker, Sadiq Isiyaka equalised before half-time to restore parity for the West Africans.
The second half saw the Hippos continue from where they stopped as they searched for the winner which proved elusive until late on.
Just as the game looked to be petering out into a draw, Uganda then struck with a moment of magic – an unstoppable long-range drive flying past the Eagles goalkeeper who should have done better.
The result meant the Nigerian boys would have to defeat South Sudan on On Monday to stand a chance of securing a quarter-final ticket in the competition.
Meanwhile, Senegal another group B opponent defeated South Sudan 1-0 to occupy the second position on the log.