Head coach of the Nigeria under-20 football team, John Obuh has voiced his pleasure over the Flying Eagles' 1-0 win over Gabon at the 2013 African Youth Championship (AYC) in Algeria on Wednesday.
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Nigeria suffered a shock 0-1 loss to Mali in their opening game on Sunday prompting Obuh to call for a swift reaction from his charges against Gabon in their second preliminary game.
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Abduljelil Ajagun's expertly-dispatched penalty on 20 minutes inspired the Flying Eagles to their first win of the tournament and Obuh was suitably impressed.
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The trainer however lamented the consistent failure of his forwards to convert the many chances that came their way.
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"We thank God for this victory, but we were again missing chances. Our problem of scoring goals gave Gabon the strength to fight back," Obuh said after the game.
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The former Sharks FC coach then revealed that he was surprised at the quality of Gabonese side conceding that "they were better than we expected".
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"Also, we came up against a very different and better Gabon than the team we saw draw 0-0 with DR Congo on Sunday. They were better than we expected," he said.
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Nigeria will progress to the semi finals with a win over DR Congo in Oran in their final group game.
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The contest at the Stade Ahmed Zabana, Oran on March 23 kicks off at 5:30pm with the other sides in the group, Mali and Gabon going toe to toe simultaneously at Ain Temouchent.
They did nt even improve in their next game. Their play was even worst according to my rating.