Nigeria's U-20 team endured difficult conditions ahead of their match against Argentina in the Youth World Cup, but that did not prevent the Eagles from eliminating the host nation from World Cup and qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Nigeria blew a surprise by beating Argentina 2-0 in the final eighth-round of the U-20 World Cup.
The Spanish newspaper "Marca" pointed out that this victory came despite the circumstances that faced the Eagles before their match with the hosts.
Flying Eagles stranded in Buenos Aires airport for hours https://t.co/f4BsK07IYI #U20WC #Nigeria #football #Argentina #FIFA #BuenosAires #SanJuan pic.twitter.com/2adYUjzrtq
— Samm Audu (@SammAudusoka) May 29, 2023
She explained that the Nigerian team did not get the necessary time to train and prepare for the match in the best way the day before the match.
The mission had to stay at an airport in the capital, Buenos Aires, for nine hours, before setting off for San Juan.
"Instead of taking off at nine o'clock in the morning local time in Argentina, the plane took off at six o'clock in the evening," Marca said.
The Nigerian Football Association published – through its official account on the social networking site Twitter – photos documenting the team's arrival in the city of San Juan, the venue of the match.
The Nigerian federation confirmed that the arrival of its delegation to the city was delayed by 9 hours, and said: "No one has given us an explanation for this delay."
Players and officials of the Flying Eagles have finally settled in at San Juan, venue of the 🇳🇬RD 1️⃣ ⃣6️game with 🇦🇷Argentina.
The team was to depart Buenos Aires for San Juan by 9am Monday morning but the flight was delayed until 6pm.
No explanation was given for the delay pic.twitter.com/yhvEzlTApN
— The NFF 🇳🇬 (@thenff) May 30, 2023
The delay prevented Nigeria from training in the evening, as they only had time to get a little sleep and rest.
However, Nigeria beat Argentina 2-0 with Ibrahim Mohamed in the 61st minute and Riluano Sacri in stoppage time, a result that prompted tango coach Javier Mascherano to resign pending the decision of the Argentine Football Federation.
¡Victoria histórica! Así fue el 2-0 de Nigeria 🇳🇬 que dejó afuera a la Argentina 🇦🇷 #U20WC
— Copa Mundial FIFA 🏆 (@fifaworldcup_es) June 1, 2023
For its part, the Confederation of African Football praised the Nigerian team, posting on its Twitter account pictures of the players' celebrations of the two goals after the match, and commented on them, "It's an African party in South America."
Knockout hosts ➡️ On to the quarters. ✅
It's an African party in South America! 🥳 NAIJA FEVER! 🇳🇬 #U20WC pic.twitter.com/s44t2xaVgt
— CAF (@CAF_Online) June 1, 2023
Nigeria reached the quarter-finals of the U-20 World Cup and await the winner of the Ecuador-South Korea match scheduled for later Thursday local time.