Ex-international midfielder and former assistant coach in the Super Eagles, Fatai Folorunsho Amoo has predicted that the country’s youth national team will face a very tough challenge when they tango Senegal on Monday in this year’s African U20 Cup of Nations quarter-finals.
Sports247 reports that both sides will lock horns in a make-or-break last-eight fixture of the ongoing youth championship in Egypt, with winner of the encounter at Suez Canal Stadium in Ismaili automatically qualifying for the FIFA U20 World Cup.
However, with Senegal holding a better head-to-head advantage over Nigeria in recent clashes between both sides at this level, and entering Monday’s game as the defending champions, Amoo is apprehensive of the game’s likely outcome.
Sports247 recalls that it was Senegal that sent Nigeria packing with a 2-1 defeat in the second round of the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup in Poland, just few months after they beat the same team 2-0 during the WAFU B qualifiers in Togo, they then also won 1-0 when both sides met at the last U20 AFCON in 2023.
Amoo admitted that The Junior Teranga Lions have an edge over Aliyu Zubairu’s side, but he also recalled the Flying Eagles’ efforts so far in this competition and reckoned that they can pull off a surprise.
The veteran tactician fondly called ‘Arsenal’ said: “It will be a very, very difficult game but, given our level of defence in this year’s competition, so far so good, they may somehow make it through.”
Fatai Amoo then gave suggestions on the manner of approach that could give Nigeria victory on Monday in the Egyptian sun, the biggest of which he believes would be a fearsome attack from beginning to end of the match, which is scheduled to start at 1pm Nigeria time.
He added, “The attack needs to come out and score goals. They have to do something extra that will give us the qualification ticket. I want to believe they know that whoever wins this match will automatically qualify for the World Cup. So, it’s going to be a very tough game.”
He concluded by acknowledging how the Senegalese have dominated Nigeria in recent encounters at this level, but hinted that the team from Dakar might not be in that same top form, despite being the defending champions and haven emerged winners of their group at this year’s competition.
“The last time we met Senegal, they showed us their quality; but I don’t know whether they still have the consistency and confidence we saw in them at the last U20 AFCON. In any case, it’s going to be the toughest game our team has gone through in this year’s competition,” the former First Bank FC of Lagos coach submitted.
