FG Hails Flying Eagles for Eliminating Hosts Argentina 

Olawale Ajimotokan  in Abuja  

The Federal Government has congratulated the Flying Eagles of Nigeria for edging host nation, Argentina 2-0 in the Round of 16 at the U20 FIFA World Cup in that South American country.

In a statement yesterday signed by Director, Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga,  the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, congratulated the players  for their excellent performance at the competition. 

He also called on the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to ensure the Flying Eagles put in extra effort with a view to bringing the cup home. 

He explained that the performance of the Flying Eagles at the tournament further demonstrated that the policy initiatives put in place for the development of sports in Nigeria and football in particular by the former administration under the supervision of the former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr Sunday Dare is sure to uplift our sports industry even at global competitions.  

 Abubakar expressed optimism that the Sports and Youth Development Ministry is one of the sectors that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Administration will be proud of and thus further build up on the structures on ground towards ensuring a formidable sports industry in the country  

He called on all well-meaning Nigerians to pray for the Flying Eagles to conquer other contenders and return to Nigeria with the trophy 

The Flying Eagles on Wednesday, defeated Argentina to reach the quarter-final of the U20 World Cup with Ibrahim Muhammad scoring the first goal of the match on the 71 minute while Haliru Sarki scored with a diving header in added time to take the match out of the reach of the six-time champions. 

Nigeria has only won two silver medals in the tournament with the latest coming in 2005 when they lost 2-1 to the Messi led Argentina in the final.