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Nigeria now sits second in Group A with three points, behind already qualified Senegal.
After scoring what happened to be Nigeria's match-winner in a keenly-contest 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations clash with hosts Egypt, defender Solomon Agbalaka has stated that the Flying Eagles deserved their win.
Nigeria bounced back from their opening day defeat to Senegal, by beating Egypt 1-0 in their second game at the 75000-seater Cairo International Stadium.
The win now sees Nigeria with three points go second in Group A behind Senegal who have, so far, won their both matches, enough to secure a place in the knockout stages.
Agbalaka says Nigeria deserved to win
Reacting to Nigeria's performance for which he was awarded the Man of the Match at full-time, Agbalaka revealed that he was excited with the result and was banking on his teammates to put in better shifts going forward.
"This win, we deserve it," the Broad City defender said to journalists after Wednesday's win.
"Worked very hard, so I would like to thank my coach and all my colleagues for their efforts. I'm very happy with the result of the match. The match was not easy as we were facing the hosts."
"For now, I can only depend on my team on getting to the next stage of the tournament."
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Flying Eagles to play Mozambique in final game
The other game in Group A on Wednesday saw Papa Amadou Diallo score twice and Pape Dembe also get on the scoresheet, giving Senegal a comfortable 3-0 win over Mozambique to become to the first side to qualify from the Group.
What this means is that only one of Nigeria, Egypt or Mozambique can make the knockout stages of the competition.
The third-placed team in the group - after the final round of group stage matches - could still qualify, but depending on where they rank as compared to their peers from other groups.
The Flying Eagles will in their final group stage match on Saturday, take on Mozambique at the Suez Canal Stadium in Ismaila.
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