Cup holders Nigeria go into Saturday’s Unity Cup final against Jamaica at The Valley, Charlton Athletic’s stadium in London, with the Super Eagles determined to retain the trophy while leaving nothing to chance against the Reggae Boyz.
Head Coach Eric Chelle, whose side brushed aside Zimbabwe 2-0 in Tuesday’s semi-final, has signalled he may tinker with his personnel and tactics for the showpiece against the Jamaicans, who edged India by the same scoreline in their own last-four tie.
The two sides are no strangers to this stage. In last year’s final at the Brentford Stadium, Moses Simon gave Nigeria an early lead before Kaheim Dixon levelled for Jamaica. Samuel Chukwueze restored the Eagles’ advantage early in the second half, but Jon Russell equalised again to force a penalty shootout.
Nigeria converted all five of their kicks while Dwayne Atkinson blazed his effort over Stanley Nwabali’s bar, and the Eagles retained the title they had also won in 2002 and 2004 — the only three editions of the tournament held previously. Related News I’ll always support Eagles despite heartbreaks – Singer Samwell FIFA hails Okocha’s historic World Cup record U-17 WWC: Flamingos won’t underrate Guinea, says Busari
