By Emeka Dennar
Nigeria’s U20 national team, the Flying Eagles, booked their place in the semi-finals of the ongoing WAFU B U20 Tournament on Thursday following a dominant 3-0 victory over Togo’s Sparrow Hawks in Yamoussoukro.
The seven-time African champions backed up their impressive 4-2 opening-match victory over Ghana’s Black Satellites with a clinical second-half performance to secure top spot in Group B and passage to the knockout stage.
Despite the scoreline, the Flying Eagles were made to work for the win during a tightly contested opening 45 minutes. Togo started brightly, frustrating Nigeria’s early control of possession and coming agonizingly close to taking the lead in the 38th minute, only to squander a clear scoring opportunity by shooting wide.
Both sides traded chances in a frantic end to the first period, but the match remained deadlocked at 0-0 heading into the break.
Nigeria emerged for the second half with renewed intensity and needed just 60 seconds to break the deadlock. Inform forward Muiz Adeleke, who struck twice against Ghana on Monday, continued his stellar tournament form by firing the Flying Eagles ahead in the 46th minute.
Adeleke was at it again in the 59th minute to double Nigeria’s advantage. Capitalizing on a swift counterattack, the striker showed composure to round the Togolese goalkeeper and slot the ball into an empty net for his second of the afternoon.
While Nigeria missed a chance to add a third shortly after following a defensive mix-up by Togo, substitute Abdoulaye Agbejoye put the result beyond doubt in the 85th minute. Fresh off the bench as a replacement for Adeleke, Agbejoye made an instant impact by grabbing Nigeria’s third.
The Flying Eagles comfortably saw out the final minutes to claim all three points. They will now turn their attention to a highly anticipated semi-final clash against Burkina Faso on Sunday.
