In the first round, the two contenders for the goal of the tournament from Samson Lawal and Ibrahim Muhammad won 2-0 for the Nigerian U-20 national team, the Flying Eagles. The victory saw them qualify for the quarter-finals in second place behind Senegal, who beat hosts Egypt 4-0 to qualify with a perfect record.
The team coached by Ladan Bosso got their first goal in the 32nd minute of the first half. Lawal’s right-footed shot beat Mozambique goalkeeper Kimiss Zavala all but finished. It was just the tonic the Nigerian team needed after subjecting South Africa to constant pressure from the whistle blow.
They doubled their lead in the 41st minute when left-back Solomon Agbalaka won the ball back and slotted it past Muhammad, who took a touch before firing beyond the keeper’s reach from outside the box.
The Flying Eagles clearly dominated the first half and fully deserved their 2-0 goal lead.
The second half went much better as the Mozambican team put more players behind the ball and tried to plan a breakaway attack after making three substitutions at the start of the second stanza, but the Nigerian team contained the attack.
Jude Sunday and Adama Alade came on for Rilwanu Sarki and Muhammad Aminu in the 51st minute as Coach Bosso tried for another goal.
Nigeria will face the Group B champions on Thursday, March 2, while Senegal will face the third best team from either Group B or C.
In the other Group A match, Senegal beat Egypt 4-0 with all the goals coming in the second half. Pape Diop scored a hat-trick. Diol opened the scoring in the 59th minute, Ibou Sane scored twice in the 69th minute before Diol completed his hat trick with goals in the 73rd and 76th minutes.
Senegal finished the group with nine points and scored eight goals without conceding.
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