BY TONY UDOKA

Flying Eagles’ Head Coach, Aliyu Zubairu has assured that his wards will be even better when they take on South Africa’s Amajita in the first semifinal of the ongoing CAF U20 Cup of Nations in the city of Ismailia on Thursday evening.

Pundits have praised the seven-time champions for dominating the tough quarterfinal encounter against Senegal at the same venue on Monday, before sending the Cup holders out of the tournament after a 3-1 penalty shootout win.

“I believe we are going to have a great semi-final against the South Africans. I can guarantee that our approach will be much better, as the anxiety of whether or not we will earn a FIFA World Cup ticket is no longer there. It was a tense 120 minutes for ourselves and the defending champions on Monday.

“We have the World Cup ticket now and are quite happy. Against South Africa, we will play with great determination and composure, as we aim for the trophy, but without the tense atmosphere around the last match. Of course, we know the little matter of the rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa and what the game means, and we will go in there to do a real battle,” Head Coach Zubairu said on Tuesday.

The man who led El-Kanemi Warriors of Maiduguri to win last year’s President Federation Cup competition believes his team has improved considerably since the first match against Tunisia on the first day of May.

“We can all see that the team has improved, and actually getting better with each match. We will go all out against the South Africans.”

Apart from their seven titles, Nigeria have also finished as runners-up on two occasions (1999 and 2007), and as bronze medallists on two other occasions as well (2009 and 2013).

To set up a clash with the most-decorated team in the competition’s history, the Amajita had to also endure a 120-minute affray against the Democratic Republic of Congo, also at the same Suez Canal Authority Stadium where the Flying Eagles upended Senegal’s expectations. They won their own game 1-0 after extra time.

Nigeria had collected four of her seven titles (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989) before South Africa (isolated for decades) was assimilated back into global sport following the release of Nelson Mandela from prison in 1990.

Amajita’s first experience of the U20 Africa Cup of Nations was in 1997, and they finished as runners-up to hosts and winners Morocco. Nigeria did not qualify for the finals. Four years later, in Ethiopia, both Nigeria and South Africa finished bottom of their pool and exited at the group stage in what remains Nigeria’s worst outing ever in the history of the tournament.

In 2009, Nigeria defeated South Africa 2-1 for bronze, and four years later defeated Mali by the same margin to also pick up the bronze medals in Algeria.

As hosts in 2011, the Amajita crashed out at the group stage after winning one and losing two matches, while Nigeria roared to her sixth title with a 3-2 defeat of Cameroon in the final in Soweto.

In 2015, Nigeria grabbed her seventh title in Senegal, while South Africa’s campaign ran into the sands in the group stage after losses to Ghana and Mali. Eight years ago, Nigeria didn’t qualify for the competition when South Africa finished in fourth place.

In 2019, in Niger Republic, Nigeria defeated South Africa 5-3 after penalty shootout to win the bronze medals, after both teams had tied scoreless in a group phase encounter.

In the second semi-final on Thursday, hosts and four-time winners Egypt – conquerors of 1999 world champions Ghana -will take on Morocco in Cairo.