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Amajitas’ defeat sweet revenge - Udoh
Flying Eagles’ captain in the loser’s tie against the Amajitas of South Africa, Kingsley Udoh, said their 2 – 1 win over the South Africans has restored some measure of respect to the nation’s representatives at the 16th African Youth Championship in Kigali, Rwanda.
Udoh said they needed redemption and something to take to Nigeria after losing to Cameroon in the semi final three days ago.
"We had to redeem ourselves and that is why we fought throughout to win this match. It was very important for us and we needed all the motivation to clinch the tie," said the captain, who held the defence together against a late rally by South Africa.
Nigerian coach Ladan Bosso praised the South African side and appreciated their attractive football.
"They are vey good in finishing, especially in the dying minutes and we had to be extra careful today. We lost to South Africa in the preliminaries and we have overturned the tables. But I still insist that this is the best team in the competition."
Bosso praised the organization of the event in general and added that the level of competition was very high this year.
“It’s good for African football," he said.
South African captain and Samsung Fair play player of the match Ramahlwe Mphahlele said they will go back to the drawing board and look forward to playing as a team in the near future.
"The Nigerians were in the right frame today and they really wanted to win this match. That is why they closed us down in the first half."
South African coach Serame Letsoaka congratulated Nigeria and said they played well in the first half. The coach rued the second goal they conceded saying:
"The goal disorganized us. But we equally had good opportunities". The coach regretted that he had come to Kigali without the two regular full-backs and that is why we have been extremely careful in our game plan,” he said.
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