Nigeria’s Flying Eagles took control in the second half on their way to a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Tunisia in Friday’s third place match at the 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations. Jude Sunday scored two goals after Ibrahim Muhammad and Ahmed Abdullahi struck for Nigeria, who found two goals in the opening three minutes of the second half to put away the Tunisian team. Both teams will represent Africa at the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup set to take place in Indonesia towards the end of May.
It was a mostly even match in the first half but direct play from Nigeria took advantage of poor defending from their opponents. In the 9th minute, Muhammad struck after Daniel Bameyi combined with a fellow attacker to find space on the right wing before crossing for Muhammad to finish at the far post. Tunisia came close to equalizing later in the first half but were clearly distraught after having a goal disallowed and not having a Video Assistant Referee review after Solomon Agbalaka appeared to trip up Mohamed Dhaoui in the penalty area just before halftime.
It took the Flying Eagles only eleven seconds to double their lead after the referee whistled to start the second half with Abdullahi finishing after receiving a pass and turning past Zinedine Sassi with his first touch. It was 3-0 in the 48th minute when Sunday collected the ball on the right wing and drove past four defenders with ease before firing in to further demoralize the Tunisian team. Another Sunday blast finished the scoring in the 90th minute when he cut inside from the left wing and was given too much room to fire in from fifteen yards out.
Highlights are below. Senegal will face Gambia in the final on Saturday.
