With a 3-2 victory, Senegal dashed Nigeria Flying Eagles’ hopes of making it to the 2023 All African Games semifinals.
The Ladan Bosso-led team had only three points from their two previous Group B games, therefore an absolute victory was required to earn a semi-final position.
Charles Agada gave the Nigerian boys the lead in the second minute, giving the impression that they were a serious team.
But in the twenty-first minute, Idrissa Traore tied the score for Senegal with a low strike that beat the Nigerian custodian.
In the match that Nigeria’s Minister for Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, was watching, Traore was to grab his brace six minutes later to put the Senegalese ahead for the first time.
Nigeria was still in the game when Chibuzor Izuogu equalised with a spectacular free kick to make it 2-2.
However, after scoring the game-winning goal from the penalty spot to advance Senegal to the semifinals, Pape Diouf crushed the hearts of Nigerians.
Following the game, Bosso expressed his disappointment with the outcome and acknowledged that he did not have enough time to choose the team’s best players.
“I’m disappointed because this game was the best we have played so far in this tournament,” he said.”
“I didn’t have enough time to scout for players and what I did was to watch few games in Uyo and other places .
“That’s where I saw the two Enyimba players, Daga and Chibueze ”
Bosso thinks that going ahead, there have been lessons learned, particularly in terms of getting ready early for important competitions.
He said: “The lesson is that we need to prepare very well for future tournaments.
“The idea of preparing for a tournament in 13 days is really not the best
“But we can take positives from the fact that some players in this squad can be nurtured for the future and possibly play for the national team
“We tried to improve from match to match. The game we played against Senegal was probably our best game of the tournament so far but it’s just unfortunate that we lost,” a crestfallen Bosso noted.
