Nigeria’s under 18 men handball team began their IHF Trophy Africa Men Continental Phase on a winning note as they defeated Zambia 36-21 on Sunday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Coach Emeka Nnamani’s tutored team were spot on from the first blast of the whistle as they took advantage of the wings to score several goals in the first half emerge 17-9.
The second saw a bit of resilience from the Zambians as they tested the Nigeria but Goalkeeper Samuel Obabori was up to the task as he made important saves while captain Faruk Kareem and the rest of the team made sure they scored goals to finish the match with a comfortable 36-21.
Goalkeeper Samuel Obabori was rightly awarded the Most Valuable Player of the match.
Coach Emeka Nnamani said the team understood the business and did exactly as he instructed despite arriving at Addis Ababa a day behind schedule because of the unfortunate flight situation that so them play Zambia hours after they got into town for the match.
“I must give kudos to my players as they didn’t allow the unfortunate situation of our flight from Nigeria to affect them against Zambia who were better rested for the match.”
“They understood the business of the match and did exactly what we told them to do tactically. It was a good match and we are ready for the next match”. Coach Emeka Nnamani said.
Nigeria will play host Ethiopia in their second match of the competition on Monday at 1pm Nigerian time.
