Flying Eagles player ratings : Njoku descent, Frederick joy to watch, Abdullahi rescue mission disaster

Nigeria's Flying Eagles on Sunday evening lost their opening Group A match of the 2023 CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt against Senegal.  

The 1-0 defeat means the seven-time champions of the tournament are condemned to get a point or three against Egypt as another defeat could spell the end of a World Cup dream. 

All Nigeria Soccer's Izuchukwu Michael rated the performance of the Nigerian players. 

The Starters 

Goalkeeper:

Nathaniel Nwosu  : The Nigerian keeper was rarely troubled by the Senegalese side but he failed to get a strong contact to the ball that culminated in the goal scored by Faye from a rebound. 6/10.

Defenders: 

Augustine Njoku : The right back was decent in his primary duties of stopping the attacks from the left side of Senegal's attack. 

He was even close to making an attempt at scoring in the first half but he went for same ball with a teammate who fired high and wide despite being the better positioned player. 7/10.

Solomon Agbalaka : Good on one-on-one situations though gave away the ball away at some times. 

The left back made some darting runs down the flanks but his final deliveries were not up to the required level. 5/10

Benjamin Frederick : Was one of the bright spots in an otherwise average team.  Strong in the tackle and powerful in the air, the defender was a joy to watch as he intelligently did his job. 

He also cleared the ball and made telling interceptions when it seemed the Senegalese were going to score more goals. 8/10. 

Daniel Bameyi : The captain was yellow-carded for a professional foul towards the end of the game. 

Bamayi is a journalist's delight and a true team leader but he needs to be more assertive and play better in the next game. 5/10.

Midfielders and attackers : 

Daniel Daga : The sought-after defensive midfielder is the other impressive player of the Flying Eagles in the game.

He shielded the back line brilliantly but unfortunately had to be subbed off after copping a knee injury. 7/10. 

Onuche Ogbelu : The central midfielder was impressive and was a good foil for Daga after the latter was substituted due to injury. His free kick and shots were wide off the target anyway. 6/10. 

Samson Lawal : The midfielder is good at taking the ball away from the team's half and making runs into opposition half but he didn't do much of that on Sunday. 

Had one moment that wowed the crowd after a neat dribbling move. 5.5/10. 

Rilwan Sarki : Winger Rilwan Sarki was not able to ghost past the Senegalese full back from the right side of Nigerian attack. 

Not quite a performance that inspires, confidence. 4.5/10.

Ibrahim Muhammad  : Affectionately called 'Beji' in the Flying Eagles camp, the left sided attacker had some good moments with his deft footwork but his final ball left much to be desired. 

 He let fly a couple of shots but they were off target. 6/10. 

Adams Alade :  Was, substituted  in the course of the game. 

Perhaps Ladan Bosso could have stuck with him rather than making a substitution that saw him replace the number 19. 5/10.

The Substitutes

Nicholas Jonathan  : Arguably the most resourceful of the substitutes that came in the second half of the match in place of the injured Daniel Daga. 

An intelligent player. 6/10. 

Jude Sunday  : Didn't do much to help the team but the team were not overly affected. 5/10. 

Emmanuel Uchegbu  : He replaced Sarki in the second half. Nimble on his move, he won a free kick almost immediately after coming on. 5/10.

Ahmed Abdullahi  : The worst player for the Nigerian team when he was on the pitch. 

Supposedly brought on a rescue mission but he came in and picked up two needless yellow cards which led to his dismissal. 

The striker added no real bite to the attack. 4/10.

Izuchukwu Michael
 

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