Nigeria’s U20 men's national team saw their dream for the eighth Africa U20 Cup of Nations title dashed following a 1-0 defeat to 10-man the Gambia in the semi-final match at the Cairo International Stadium on Monday evening.
The Flying Eagles came into the last four on the back of a 1-0 quarterfinal triumph over Uganda last Thursday, while the Young Scorpions were smarting from a 5-0 crushing of South Sudan in their quarterfinal duel.
In a bid for a first ever final appearance, Adama Bojang profited from a defensive slip by captain Daniel Bameyi to beat goalkeeper Chijioke Aniagboso for the opening goal of the match after just seven minutes of action.
On finding themselves behind, the Nigerians pushed in numbers for an instant equalizer through Ibrahim Muhammad, Samson Lawal, Haliru Sarki and Francis Abubakar but all failed to beat goalkeeper Lamin Saidy.
After a wasteful first half, Ladan Bosso's men kept their bid for a leveler alive and were gifted a penalty five minutes from time but Belgium-based star Ahmed Abdullahi failed to beat Saidy as his effort hit the base of the upright.
Despite surviving a late penalty, the Gambians were found themselves at a disadvantage as they were reduced to 10 men following the sending off of Haruna Rasid Njie a minute from regulation time.
In spite of their numerical disadvantage, Abdoulai Bojang's side remained resolute in their quest to ground the maximum points and kept the Nigerian forwards in check to guarantee their dream of the maiden final.
Following the defeat, seven-time champions Nigeria will play for the bronze medals against Tunisia on Friday, 24 hours before the Gambia take on Senegal’s Young Teranga Lions in the final. The Group A winners sliced Tunisia to bits in a 3-0 win in the first semi-final played at the Suez Canal Authority Stadium in Ismailia earlier in the day.
