Former National U20 player, Hakeem Salami was instrumental to Nigeria’s victory against Congo in the 9 to 16 classification match at the ongoing 26th African Senior Men’s Handball African Nations Cup in Egypt.
Hakeem Salami in the last 20 seconds gave Pivot, Stephen Sessugh a fantastic pass to score the winning goal and ensured Nigeria won by 27 to 26 goals.
The exceptional display of Hakeem Salami in the second half of the game earned his the Most Valuable Player of the match on Tuesday night.
An elated Hakeem Salami told www.aclsports.com that beating Congo has boosted the morale of the team at the Handball African Nations Cup.
The Adjidja HC player said the tournament has further exposed the players adding that Nigeria will build on the gains of the Nations Cup.
He said, “I am dedicating the MVP award to my teammates because we fought together to get the deserved victory. Beating Congo has boosted the morale of the players and we will not take any match with levity.
“Our target before getting to Egypt was to make it to the Quarterfinals but we lost concentration in our first match against Angola which cost us our qualification”.
Nigeria trailed behind Congo in the first half by 14 to 16 goal before putting up a superlative fight in the second half to get a deserved win with 27 to 26 goals in the last 20 seconds.
Nigeria will face Libya in the 9th to 12th classification match at the Handball African Nations Cup on Wednesday (24th January) by 7pm.
