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Nigeria’s Flying Eagles are through to the final of the ongoing
African Youth Championship after a hard-fought 2-0 victory over the ‘Les
Aiglons’ of Mali at the Dobsonville Stadium, in Soweto yesterday.

Two-goal hero in the opening match against Ghana, Uche Nwofor,
put the Nigerians ahead in the 22nd minute of play before Stanley Okoro sealed
the win from the penalty spot in second-half stoppage time.

Nigerian coach John Obuh made no changes to the side which ran
out 2-0 winners over Gambia in Nigeria’s last Group B game.

And with the pitch at the Dobsonville Stadium looking much
better than it had previously been after a break from the incessant rains that
had plagued Johannesburg and rendered the surface almost unplayable. Both sides
began the game cautiously with the Nigerians more comfortable moving the ball
on the ground while the much taller Malians opted for aerial balls.

The tempo of the game, however, moved up a gear in the eighth
minute when Chidi Osuchukwu rose above his marker to head the ball towards goal
only to be denied by Malian goalkeeper Cheick Sy.

The Nigerians kept up the pressure and deservedly shot into the
lead in the 22nd minute through Nwofor who stabbed the ball into the back of
the net after the Malian goalkeeper failed to properly deal with Osuchukwu’s
cross.

It was the third goal of the tournament for the Enugu Rangers
forward and he joined South African player, Lucky Nguzana, on three goals to
top the scorers chart.

The Malians reacted by throwing more men forward and came close
to grabbing an equaliser three minutes after the restart but Adama Toure’s
shot, after the Nigerian defence failed to deal with a corner kick, came off
Danjuma Paul’s right upright.

But the greatest undoing of Diallo Sekou’s Malian side remained
their overdependence on long balls which the Nigerians easily dealt with
through well-laid offside traps by the backline marshalled by the duo of Gbenga
Arokoyo and Gani Ogungbe.

But with the half drawing to a close, Nwofor thought he had
increased Nigeria’s lead when he got on the end of Abdul Ajagun’s cross only to
see his goal bound header stopped from hitting the back of the net by an
incredible reflex save by Sy.

Nigerian grit

The Malians started the second half determined to pull level.
And five minutes into the half Adama Toure beat the Nigerian offside trap, but
goalkeeper Paul was quick off his line to deny the Malian forward.

A minute later Ogungbe was booked by referee Mario Bangoura for
a rash challenge. It was the second yellow card of the tournament for the
Gateway FC defender and ruled him out of Sunday’s final.

Around the hour mark, and against the run of play, Nigeria
almost went 2-0 up through Nwofor who somehow failed to get his head onto a
delightful cross by Ajagun with the goal at his mercy.

Then came a period of complete Malian domination but Paul was on
hand to save the day for the Flying Eagles. And even when the Nasarawa United
goalkeeper was beaten, as was the case in the 74th minute when Ibrahimma Diarra
latched onto a header, the post denied the Malians.

Shortly after the match referee indicated that there will be
five minutes added time, Olanrewaju Kayode was brought down in the Malian area.

The Guinean referee wasted little time in pointing to the spot
and Stanley Okoro, who had only been on the pitch for four minutes, calmly
slotted the ball into the net with Sy rooted to the spot.

The Flying Eagles will come up against Cameroon in the final
after the Young Pharaohs were defeated by Cameroon in the other semi-final
match on penalties.

It will be Nigeria’s eighth Africa Youth Championship final
appearance and they will be hoping to claim their sixth African title, while
the Cameroonians will be seeking a second title.

Both sides met earlier in the tournament with the Cameroonians running out
1-0 winners.