Egypt 2025: Zubairu picks Flying Eagles to thrash ‘arch-rivals’ South Africa

Coach Aliyu Zubairu has assured that the Nigeria U20 squad will be even better when they take on South Africa’s Amajita in the first semi-final of the ongoing CAF U20 Cup of Nations in the city of Ismailia tomorrow.

Pundits have praised the seven-time champions for dominating the tough quarter-final 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,” Zubairu said.

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.

Before South Africa, which had been excluded from international sport for decades, was reintegrated when Nelson Mandela was released from jail in 1990, Nigeria had won four of her seven titles (1983, 1985, 1987, 1989).

When Amajita participated in the U20 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 1997, they placed second to the hosts and winners, Morocco. Nigeria failed to make it to the championship game. In what is still Nigeria's poorest performance in the tournament's history, both South Africa and Nigeria finished last in their pools and were eliminated at the group stage four years later in Ethiopia.

Nigeria won bronze in 2009 after defeating South Africa 2-1. Four years later, they won bronze in Algeria after defeating Mali by the same score.

Nigeria swept to her sixth title with a 3-2 victory against Cameroon in the final in Soweto, whereas the Amajita, the 2011 hosts, eliminated themselves at the group stage after winning one and losing two games.

Nigeria won her sixth championship in Senegal in 2015, while South Africa's campaign failed in the group stage due to defeats by Ghana and Mali. When South Africa placed fourth eight years ago, Nigeria was not eligible to compete.

Nigeria won the bronze medal in 2019 in Niger Republic by defeating South Africa 5-3 in a penalty shootout after the two sides had drawn scoreless in a group round match.

Egypt, the hosts and four-time winners, who defeated Ghana, the 1999 global champions, will play Morocco in Cairo tomorrow in the second semi-final.