- Ten-man Gambia defeated Nigeria [1-0] at the Cairo International Stadium to book their place in the final of the CAF 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations on Monday evening.
Nigeria started brightly but conceded after seven minutes against the run of play, as Gambian youngster, Adama Bojang capitalised on a defensive error to give the Young Scorpions the lead.
The Flying Eagles dominated the encounter from that point on, but low quality deliveries in the final third of pitch and wasteful finishing kept the scoreline in favour of the Gambians.
Nigeria even won a penalty in the 84th minute of the clash after Ibrahim Abdullahi was felled in the box by the Gambian goalkeeper. He stepped up to take the penalty himself but could only hit the post, and the chance went begging.
The Gambia had a player, Haruna Njie sent off for his second bookable offence, but the Flying Eagles failed to make their numerical advantage count as they fell to their first-ever defeat to the Gambians, as they reached their first ever AFCON U20 final.
Nigeria's next match will be against Tunisia in the bronze medal decider on March 10, after the North Africans also lost their semifinal clash 3-0 to Senegal earlier in the day.
Senegal and Gambia will contest the final of the 2023 AFCON U-20 tournament.
