Nigeria U20 side, the Flying Eagles, were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Norway as they kicked off their 2025 U20 World Cup campaign on Monday night, www.acslports.com reports.
Rasmus Holten’s early penalty was all the Norwegians needed to beat the 2005 finalists in the group F contest decided at Estadio Fiscal de Talca.
Head Aliyu Zubair named a strong line up for the opening game in Talca. Captain Daniel Bameyi and Remo Stars defender Ahmed Akinyele started at the heart of the backline, alongside goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt and Odinaka Okoro in the defence. Daniel Daga, star from the last World Cup, started in midfield, and Kparobo Arierhi led the line.
The Flying Eagles started the game well with Kparobo coming close as his effort came off the woodwork before the follow up was cleared by the Norwegian defence.
At the other end, Norway were handed a penalty after Bameyi was punished for an handball incident in the box. Norway skipper Rasmus Holten sent Harcourt the wrong way for the opener in the ninth minute.
The Flying Eagles continued to see a lot of the ball, but they failed to threaten the Norway defence until Ayuma Israel’s long range effort was pushed over the bar by the goalkeeper midway through the contest. However, the Norwegians did well to take the lead into the break.
Shortly after the restart, Kparobo saw his effort go inches wide of the mark before another attempt of the Beyond Limits product was blocked.
Just after the hour mark, winger Tahir Maigana struck the base of the post before Salihu fired over minutes later, as Nigeria continued to look for a way back into the contest. All efforts failed to produce a goal, as the Europeans claimed an opening game win.
Nigeria will now face Saudi Arabia in their next group game on Friday.
