By Akinwale Kasali
Come Sunday June 4th, 2023, the Flying Eagles of Nigeria will trade tackles with Asian giant, South Korea, for a place in the Semi Finals of the ongoing FIFA Under-20 World Cup tournament in Argentina.
Having defeated host, Argentina 2-0 FIFA in a pulsating encounter at the San Juan Stadium on Wednesday, the Coach Ladan Bosso-team will face South Korea in the quarterfinals.
The South Koreans also defeated another South American powerhouse, Ecuador, 3-2 in their Round of 16 clash to set a date with the West African giants.
Enroute the Quarter Finals, South Korea defeated highly fancied France 2-1, drew Honduras 2-2 and played a goalless draw against another African representative at the tournament, Gambia.
The last time Nigeria faced South Korea at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup was at Netherlands 2005 where Coach Samson Siasia lads fell 2-1 to the Asians in the second Group match of the competition after playing a goalless draw with Brazil, losing to South Korea and recording a 3-0 victory over Switzerland that then paraded the Arsenal Football Club duo of Johan Djourou and Philippe Senderos.
The Flying Eagles back then went on to get to the final where it lost to Lionel Messi inspired Argentina team 2-1.
Flying Eagles Coach, Bosso has remained optimistic that a victory is certain for his team as they are still basking from their impressive showing against Argentina.
According to Bosso, “We are taking each game as it comes. We had a game plan against Argentina and we stuck to it. Beating Argentina is no big deal, so we are leveraging on this. We are optimistic of victory by God’s Grace”, Bosso said.
