Nigeria beats South Africa 3-1 on Sunday giving her a total of 4-2 in order to qualify for the 2013 African under-20 championship in Algeria.
Nigeria, Gabon, Ghana, DR Congo, Mali Benin, Egypt including the host are amongst the finalist and those who will take part in the semi final in Algeria will be qualified for the unders-20 world cup in Turkey. In 2011, Nigeria had reached the quarter-finals in Colombia losing the game to France through a penalty shoot out. Ghana is the only African so far to have won the Under-20 World Cup in 2009 after beating Brazil on penalties final in Egypt.
Nigeria’s qualification was sealed thanks to two goals from Abduljeleel Ajagun and one from Alhaji Gedo. Thabani Mthembu’s on the other hand prove to be the solitary striker consolation for South Africa. DR Congo reached the finals with a 4-1 goal after beating Cameroon in Kinshasa on Saturday. DR Congo junior has reached a continental tournament ahead on a 2-0 deficit for the first time on a total of 4-3.
National team coach Claude LeRoy and his assistant Sebastien Migne have helped the under-20 technical team. According to LeRoy, authorities must provide means for them to prepare for the finals in Algeria, as required. Listening to DR Congo Under-20 coach Baudoin Lofombo, who won this year’s Kinshasa League title with Rogelu (a club owned by the father of West Bromwich Albion player Romelu Lukaku); he declares of being proud to be the first Congolese coach to lead DR Congo to the finals for a junior team. He attributes their qualification to his players understanding they should not be money minded given at the final stage the whole world will be looking at them when they reached the finals.
Gabon team beats Burkina Faso 2-0 to complete a 4-2 total victory meanwhile Ghana survived a shock in Morocco as they lost on a 3-1 match but they still qualified for the finals on an overall 5-4. Mali on the other hand was contented with a 3-0 win over Zambia in order to complete a 5-2 victory whereas Benin got ahead to the final with a 1-0 win in Senegal to make it 4-1 on total. Egypt’s under-20 team did what their senior team could not and reached a continental tournament after battling to a goalless draw in Angola to complete a 2-1 total win.
