Nigeria ones again confirmed its status as the giant of Africa in football when its National U-15 boys secured the gold medal of the football event with a 3-1 victory over Swaziland at the Africa Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana on Friday.
The U-15 boys who needed just a draw to secure what is widely referred to as the most prestigious medal of the games, went all out against their Southern Africa opponent and goals from Nasifi Yahaya, Ali Musa and Young Elisha ensured that Nigeria topped the six team table with 10 points while Tanzania and Mali picked up the silver and bronze medals respectively.
Nigeria did not just win the gold medal, the boys were impressive all through as they conceded goal just once and scored ten times in five matches.
The team defeated host Botswana 2-0 in their first game, drew 0-0 with Mali, beat South Africa 3-0, defeated Tanzania 2-0 and completed the football event with a 3-1 win over Swaziland in the last game played at the University of Botswana football pitch.
The coach of the team, Danladi Nasidi attributed the success to the one month camping exercise which they enjoyed before the tournament.
“I’m a happy man today and I must say the one month camping exercise we had in Abuja before the tournament really helped us.”
According to the tournament format, all six teams that participated in the football event engaged each other in a round-robin format, the best placed team on the table went home with the gold medal while the second and third placed teams won silver and bronze respectively.
Following the late withdrawals of DR Congo and Gabon, there were six teams left to participate in the football event of the African Youth Games, Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Mali.
The 2nd African Youth Games climaxes on Saturday, the event involves around 2,500 athletes from 54 countries for ten days of competition.
Athletes are competing across 21 sports – athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cycling, fencing, football, golf, judo, karate, netball, rowing, rugby, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, volleyball and weightlifting.
Aimed at athletes aged 14 to 18, the Games offer African athletes a platform to prepare for the Youth Olympic Games.
