WAFU ZONE B U-20 Boys Cup: Nigeria coach Zubairu opens up on Benin win

Head coach of Nigeria’s U-20, Aliyu Zubairu has discussed the tactics that helped his charges beat Benin in the second group A game of the WAFU ZONE B U-20 Boys Cup on Sunday.

The Flying Eagles dropped their guards, falling by 1-0 from an expertly taken free kick by Junior Olugbade in the 25th minute at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Ghana.

The 2024 WAFU ZONE B ­­­­AFCON qualifying champions however rallied from the goal down to beat Benin by 4-1 with goals from Muhammed Abdullahi, Ezekiel Kpangu, Imrana Muhammed and Abduljeleel Kamaldeen to qualify for the semifinals on four points.

“We used like twenty minutes to understudy them so exactly what we did and so the match plan went well,” Aliyu Zubariu said at the post-match press conference.

“I think we realized that their strength was in the flanks so we tried to clip the flanks to make sure we block it [so] they don’t have the opportunity to operate from the flanks.

“And I think that it made them resort to playing in the middle and they couldn’t have much of the opportunities to operate from the middle, I think that was what exactly happened.” He added.

Benin will now need to defeat hosts Ghana in their second match from Group A on Wednesday. Ghana played Nigeria to a 1-1 draw in the opening game of the competition and will only need to avoid defeat to join rivals Nigeria in the semifinals.