Nigeria’s national under-20 team; the Flying Eagles will face fellow West Africans Guinea Bissau in their second leg qualifying clash for the 2019 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Nigerians blew a two-goal lead to force their hosts to a 2-2 draw in the first leg match played at the September 28 Stadium, Bissau last Saturday. Striker Wasiu Alalade’s first half brace was cancelled out by two second half goals by Alberto Pereira.
Sunday’s game will hold at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar, Alalade’s home ground at club level with Enyimba. The facility has come under heavy criticisms in recent times due to the bad state of its playing surface.
“We will take advantage of the UJ Esuene stadium to cage Guinea Bissau. We’ve been training here but the visitors will have just a day,” Nigeria’s assistant coach Abdu Maikaba was quoted as saying on Friday.
Nigeria’s Enyimba contingent of Alalade, captain Ikouwem Udoh and head coach Paul Aigbogun who were in Brazzaville for Wednesday’s CAF Confederation Cup game against CARA Brazzaville have since joined the team in Calabar.
Winner of the tie on aggregate will face winners of the tie between Guinea and Mauritania in the final round of qualifying. The second leg game holds in Conakry on Saturday with the Mauritanians holding a 1-0 advantage.
The 2019 Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations will be staged in Niger Republic.
