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Peter Akinbo,
Olympic Eagles coach, Salisu Yusuf, is confident his team will beat Tanzania in the second leg of their second-round qualifying match for the 2023 U-23 AFCON in Dar es Salam, Sunday PUNCH reports.
The Olympic Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw away at Dar es Salam during the first leg of the tie by the Tanzanians in a game where both sides needed penalties to get on the scoresheet.
Captain Success Makanjuola netted for Nigeria in the 29th minute, after Qudus Akanni was fouled in the hosts’ vital area, and the 1996 champions thereafter created a number of chances that with a little more precision, would have put the match to bed by half time.
The home team piled on the pressure in the second period at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, and hit the crossbar on two occasions before Djiboutian referee, Souleiman Ahmed Djama awarded them a penalty that was brilliantly converted in the 74th minute.
The Olympic Eagles fought tenaciously to earn a winner, with their minds on the $20,000 pledge for victory by the Chairman of NFF’s task force for youth competitions, Alhaji Aminu Balele Kurfi, but it was not to be.
Coach Yusuf admitted the boys could have won the away fixture but has now charged them to win at home in Nigeria.
“It was a hard game. We could have won the game but we didn’t take some clean chances. The plan now is to win the next game and move on to the next challenge,” he told NFF TV.
Yusuf commented on his team’s improving performances and vowed that they’ll do better on the return leg in Ibadan.
“They have improved of late, they are improving as a team, so we will work to play better in Nigeria.”
20-year-old David Promise shares his coach’s confidence heading into the second leg.
“We’re going to prepare for the second leg and make sure we win. I am extremely confident, we can’t afford anything else but a win, we have put in way too much work so we are going to do our best to win the game.”
The Olympic Blues will return to Nigeria on Sunday (today) taking consolation from the draw and the away goal advantage. They will be determined to finish off the task when they host the Tanzanians at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Ibadan on October 29.
The winner on aggregate will proceed to the next round of the competition. The Africa U23 Cup of Nations to be held in Morocco in November 2023 will determine Africa’s flag bearers at the Men’s Football Tournament of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.