27th June, 2013
Nigeria’s U-20 team, the Flying Eagles today confront their South Korean counterparts in the last match of Group B of the FIFA World Youth Championship currently going on in Turkey.
For the coach John Obuh-led Eagles, the match billed to kick off at 4pm Nigerian time is a must win if they hope to progress to the next stage of the competition through the automatic passage.
The Flying Eagles are currently third in the standings with three points from two matches having won their last match against Cuba and lost to Portugal in their first match of the championship.
South Korea are second on four points after they recorded a win in their first match against Cuba followed by a draw against Portugal.
Portugal are also on four points but are top of Group B ahead of the Koreans by virtue of number of goals they have scored and are widely expected to crush bottom team, Cuba, to go through.
So it is really a battle for the automatic qualification available for the second placed team in the group between Nigeria and Korea, which the Eagles aim to win.
Though there are still four qualification tickets for four third best teams going into the next round, finishing second in Group B will ensure the Nigerian team stay put in Istanbul to take on the runners-up of Group F, which has Uzbekistan, Croatia, Uruguay and New Zealand.
“We are determined to beat South Korea today,” declared Sam Audu, the media officer of the Flying Eagles, this morning on a radio programme monitored in Lagos.
“We can’t afford to play a draw and subject ourselves to the lottery of finishing as one of the four third best teams going into the next round.”
Korea is the most consistent team from Asia at the U20 World Cup as this is their 13th appearance in the competition and they have qualified for the last six editions.
Their best result in this tournament was achieved 30 years ago in Mexico when they reached the semi-finals before they were edged out by eventual champions, Brazil, 2-1.
—Bamidele Olowosagba