U-20 AFCON: Flying Eagles head coach praises Nigeria’s best player against Mozambique

The West African giants took the South Africans to the cleaners to grab the second qualifying ticket from Group A ahead of hosts Egypt

Flying Eagles chief coach Ladan Bosso has lauded the contribution of young defender Solomon Agbalaka after Nigeria’s comfortable 2-0 victory over Mozambique on Saturday.

Two stunning strikes from Samson Lawal and Ibrahim Mohammed helped the Eagles soar past the Mozambican lads, who also could have advanced to the quarterfinals with a win.

Left-back Solomon Agbalaka was named the man-of-the-match in the encounter as he assisted Nigeria’s second goal while helping the defence secure a second consecutive clean sheet in Egypt.

It would be recalled that the youngster scored Nigeria’s winning goal in the 1-0 triumph over Egypt on matchday two in Cairo.

While praising Agbalaka, coach Ladan Bosso is not surprised that the young defender is hoarding all the headlines and awards in a team filled with numerous attacking talents.

“It is expected (MOM award) because he’s somebody that I heard of, and I had to leave Abuja to Lagos on two occasions to watch him play for his team,” Bosso told Cafonline.

“I booked him down; then I went to Ikeja for a scouting programme. I saw him play from the centre back so I had to sit him down. We talked so I decided to shift him to left full-back.

“I believe somebody can play from left back and centre back, so he’s a good addition to the team so I saw him and followed up and I invited him to the camp.”

Nigeria finished as Group B runners-up with six points behind Senegal, as hosts Egypt and Mozambique crash out of the tournament.