By Amosu Adeboye, LAGOS
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles suffered a 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia in a friendly encounter at the Sportschule Lindabrunn, Vienna on Sunday.
The Saudi Arabians dominated proceedings in the first half but wasted a number of goal scoring opportunities.
Khalid Al-Ghannam gave the Asians the lead in the 55th minute.
Henry Offia, who was on target in Nigeria’s 3-3 draw against Freiburg last week equalized for the Flying Eagles in the 64th minute.
Hamed Alghamdi netted the winning goal for Saudi Arabia 12 minutes from time.
Paul Aigbogun’s charges will face German side Hoffenheim in their next game on Wednesday. They will also come up against Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday May 14 and Red Bull Leipzig on Friday, May 17.
The players and their officials are expected to return to Ingoladst on Monday where they will continue preparation for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.
The Flying Eagles had a disappointing outing at the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations in Niger early in the year where they finished in fourth position.
They will face Qatar, United States of America and Ukraine in Group D at the world cup in Poland.
The West Africans will face Qatar in their opening game on May 24 with two other group games against the USA and Ukraine on May 27 and May 30 respectively.