Nigeria's Flying Eagles on Friday evening defeated Benin Republic 3-1 to win the WAFU U-20 sub regional tournament which serves as qualifiers to the CAF U-20 Nations Cup in Egypt in 2023.
The Nigerian side went close to scoring a couple of times in the first half but were foiled by a resolute defence.
The Flying Eagles however took the lead in the 38th minute through a penalty converted by Tolulope Ojo after a Beninoise defender handled the ball in the box in a desperate bid to stop the Nigerians from going ahead.
Eagles goalkeeper Nathaniel Nwosu created some panic attacks as he vacated his goal line and was all over the place but his defenders came to his rescue with a timely clearance.
Nigeria doubled their lead when resourceful midfielder Ojo let fly a long range screamer in the 70th minute.
Seven minutes after the Remo Stars player got the second goal, Ibrahim Muhammad made it 3-0 as he lobbed the ball over the Benin goalkeeper whose distribution was poor at that moment.
Benin got themselves a consolation goal six minutes to full time when Farid Eddu tapped in from close range but it was too little too late to salvage anything.
With this feat, Nigeria and Benin will be playing at the 2023 AFCON U20 Competition in Egypt.
