The Flying Eagles of Nigeria will resume their FIFA Under-20 World Cup campaign against the Dominican Republic at 7 PM WAT today, May 21, 2023.
The widely anticipated Group D opener is set to take place at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, Argentina. This will be the first time the Nigerian team will ever play against the Dominicans.
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria who are two-time Under-20 World Cup semifinalists and seven-time African champions, finished third in the 2023 Under-20 AFCON in Egypt after defeating Tunisia 4-0 to advance to this year’s edition of the World Cup.
Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic Under-20 team made history by being the first team from the country to ever reach any level of FIFA World Cup qualification. They achieved this by defeating Jamaica 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Under-20 Championship and advancing to the semifinal.
The Dominicans will be eager to prove their mettle and maybe pull off an upset in their tournament debut, while Nigeria will be aiming to capitalize on their impressive pre-tournament performance.
In their previous five matches, the Dominican Republic have lost to Ecuador 3-0, Argentina 0-4; Uzbekistan 0-3, Iraq 3-2, and Brazil 1-0.
However, Flying Eagles head coach Ladan Bosso has vowed that his team won’t take the debutants lightly and would enter the game on Sunday night fully certain of taking all three points.
The most likely team Bosso will select is the one that he started against Colombia in a friendly match last Tuesday in Buenos Aires, with Chijioke Aniagbosos in goal, Daniel Bameyi, Solomon Agbalaka, Abel Ogwuche, and Benjamin Frederick in defense, and Ibrahim Muhammad, Samson Lawal, and Jude Sunday in the attack.
However, Emmanuel Umeh, who scored in both friendlies, might start against the Dominican Republic.
After their game against the debutants tonight, the Flying Eagles of Nigeria will take on Italy in their second Group game in the tournament on Wednesday. The game will also kick off at 7 PM.
