Osama Nabih, the head coach of Egypt’s Under-20 national team, has praised the Flying Eagles of Nigeria’s performance in a friendly match played Tuesday night at the Cairo International Stadium in advance of the Africa Under-20 Cup of Nations.
Despite their close 2-1 loss against the Flying Eagles, the Egyptian coach also gave his team credit for their performance.
The match started off with a bang as Kparobo Arierhi, a striker based in Norway, put Nigeria ahead just 10 minutes into the game.
However, the Young Pharaohs showed resilience and skill, managing to equalize in the 68th minute through a well-crafted goal by Ahmed Kaabaka, who capitalized on a beautiful team move to level the score.
As the match progressed, it appeared that Egypt might secure a positive result. However, the turning point came in the 84th minute when Nigeria was awarded a penalty, which Precious Benjamin converted, sealing the victory for the Flying Eagles.
Reflecting on the match, Nabih stated, “We faced a strong and well-organized team. Our players delivered one of the most valuable and intense experiences in terms of technical, tactical, and physical aspects.
They controlled the game at critical moments and posed a real threat, especially after responding well to going behind early. Kabaka’s equalizer was a testament to our determination and teamwork.”
The coach added, “While we had several scoring opportunities that we unfortunately missed, we could have claimed victory ourselves had we been more clinical in front of goal before Nigeria’s late penalty.”
In the future, Egypt’s Under-20 squad will play alongside Zambia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Tanzania in Group A of the 2025 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
On Sunday, April 27, the Young Pharaohs will play their first game of the season against Zambia in Cairo. They hope to improve on the lessons they learnt from their battle against Nigeria.
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