Flying Eagles poised to face Senegal in ongoing U20 World Cup after qualifying for knockout stage

NIGERIA'S Flying Eagles look set to face Senegal in the second round of the ongoing Fifa U20 World Cup after scrapping through to the knock-out phase of the tournament yesterday following their 1-1 draw with Ukraine.

In their third group game played against the eastern Europeans at Poland's Bielsko-Biala Stadium, the Flying Eagles put in a spirited second half performance which deserved a victory but only got them one point. Having won their opening match against Qatar 4-0 and losing their second game 0-2 against the US, the Flying ended the group stage in third place with four points.

They now qualify for the second round as one of the best third placed teams and are set to face Group A winners Senegal in Lodz in Monday June 3. Yesterday, the Flying Eagles threw away a first half penalty but were awarded another at the start of the second half, which they scored to secure a point, having gone behind early on.

Employing their tried and tested strategy of congesting the middle of their defence with three central defenders, Ukraine frustrated Nigeria's attack for much of the first half. Danylo Sikan then made matters worse by heading home the opener from close range in the 30th minute to give Ukraine a 1-0 lead.

Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin saved Mohammed Tijani's penalty seconds before half-time but could not duplicate the feat when he took another spot-kick in the 47th minute to level the scores. After the video assisted referee (Var) confirmed that Denys Popov handled Tijani's shot on goal, he then got up and fired past Lunin to ensure the two sides shared the spoils.

Already guaranteed a place in the knockout stage, the result earned the Ukrainians top spot in Group D with seven points. A good goal difference means Nigeria will continue her World Cup adventure but in the knockout phase, the team will need to improve on recent defensive lapses if it wants to make further progress.