U17 AFCON: Ugbade express relief for quarter final spot
By Uzor Odigbo
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets Coach Nduka Ugbade was relieved as his team secured a quarter-final spot after edging South Africa 3-2 in the final rounds of group B games in Algeria.
The Amajimbos of South Africa took a lead twice before the Nigerian side rallied back to win 3-2 and qualified for the quarter-final.
During a post-match conference, Ugbade confirmed that he was scared of the South African players but happy that they qualified in the end.
“It was a tough match because South Africa is a really good team and they gave us a tough time.
They have three good players; Mabena (Siyabonga), Mkhawana (Vicky) and Dokunmu (Michael).
They are very talented players and I was honestly scared of them at first.
“We worked a bit in training and we did some corrections. We realized that it was purely psychological and we talked to the players and we saw an improvement.
We might have conceded two but I am glad we scored three,” he stated.
Nigeria will face either Burkina Faso or Cameroon (Group C runners-up) on 11th May, 2023 in Algiers. Cameroon will trade tackles with Burkina Faso in their last group and winners take all match at 8:00pm