Nigeria’s U20 football team, the Flying Eagles, have an uphill task against the most successful nation in U20 FIFA World Cup history when they take on hosts Argentina in the Round of 16 contest on Wednesday night.
The winner of the match between Argentina and Nigeria by 10 p.m. (Nigerian Time), at the Estadio San Juan in San Juan Province, will face Ecuador or South Korea in the quarter-finals.
Nigeria finished third to qualify from Group B that included Brazil, Italy and Dominican Republic. The Flying Eagles picked up six (6) points from their three fixtures.
While Argentina, led by Liverpool and Barcelona legend Javier Mascherano, finished top of Group A with maximum points ahead of Uzbekistan, New Zealand and Guatemala.
Flying Eagles Head Coach, Ladan Bosso, said his boys will fight Argentina from the beginning till the end of FIFA’s U-20 World Cup first knockout fixture on Wednesday.
“Argentina might be tough, but we equally have the talents that can win and progress to the quarterfinal,” Bosso said in an interview.
“We have to fight for the trophy. I think it is still open,” Bosso added. “Everybody can be there and I believe we have the capacity to be there.”
“In the knockout stage, there is an approach. We can employ it and we hope we will have our plans executed accordingly.”
Argentina have been outstanding in the tournament so far, scoring a total of 10 goals and recording nine (9) points to top Group A.
Argentina beat New Zealand 5-0 in their final fixture. The South Americans had earlier defeated Uzbekistan 2-1 and Guatemala 3-0.
Head coach Mascherano said his side must be wary of the counter attacking threat of the Flying Eagles. He said his team will give the Nigeria the same treatment they gave to New Zealand, Uzbekistan and Guatemala.
“Nigeria is a strong rival, especially physically. We know the record they have in the competition. They have done well in the past,” Mascherano said.
“We have analysed them, you have to be very careful with your direct play, with your players in the middle forward and above all, in their transitions because they can do a lot of damage.”
“It is a team that will be waiting when we have the ball, to recover and come out of counterattack,” he added.
Head To Head
In their first and only meeting at the tournament in 2005, a Mikel Obi-inspired Flying Eagles were losing finalists to Argentina, which featured the likes of talisman Lionel Messi. It was Nigeria’s second final loss in the competition following the defeat by Portugal at the 1989 edition in Saudi Arabia.
Nigeria has won a record of seven U20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) titles and are also two-time runners-up in the U20 FIFA World Cup. The Flying Eagles have now featured 13 times at the U20 FIFA World Cup. Nigeria has shown resilience and skill throughout the tournament and will need another brilliant performance to progress.
Argentina boasts a rich history in the U20 FIFA World Cup. This is Argentina’s 17th participation in the competition. The golden era for the South American nation was from 1995 to 2007 when they remarkably won five out of the seven editions of the U-20 World Cup during this period.
As both teams prepare to face each other again, Nigeria will be eager to avenge their defeat and make their mark on this year’s competition. The clash between Nigeria and Argentina promises to be a battle of skill and determination, that guarantees goal-mouth action between two formidable teams.
🚨M A T C H D A Y!
⚽️ Argentina U20🇦🇷 🆚 Nigeria U20🇳🇬
🗓 Wednesday, May 31, 2023
⏱ 10.00 pm 🇳🇬
🏟 Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario 🇦🇷
🧿 FIFA U20 World Cup#SoarFlyingEagles#FIFAU20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/BnDyMbZ1s6
— The NFF 🇳🇬 (@thenff) May 31, 2023
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