Flying Eagles player ratings: Njoku grabs his chance; Sarki impresses again; Bameyi struggles

The Flying Eagles of Nigeria suffered their first defeat of the 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup on Saturday evening, losing 2-0 to South American champions Brazil in their last group game.

Allnigeriasoccer.com rates the Nigeria players in action at the Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona, La Plata

The Starters

Goalkeeper

Chijioke Aniagboso:  He could have done better for the second goal conceded. The Nigerian goalie was decent with his goal kicks. 5/10 

Defenders

Augustin Njoku: Got his first start in the tournament at right back and was decent in carrying out his duties. 6.5/10

Daniel Bameyi: Deployed at centre back ahead of Benjamin Frederick. The skipper was doing well until the first goal when he was out-jumped by Jean Pedroso for the opener. 5/10 

 Abel Ogwuche: The Swedish-based player struggled on a bad evening for the Flying Eagles defence 5.5/10

Solomon Agbalaka:  He was okay defensively but didn't offer much going forward. 6/10

Midfielders and strikers 

Daniel Daga: He got an early yellow card. He was nowhere to be found when Brazil scored the second goal from counter-attack. . 6/10

Samson Lawal: He had the chance to put Nigeria ahead with a free kick from a good range but hit it against the wall. Not an outstanding performance from him. 5.5/10

Victor Eletu:  Another disappointing performance from the AC Milan midfielder who came into this tournament with a lot of expectations.5/10

Jude Sunday:  He was lively yet again and was a handful for the Brazilian particularly in the first half. 6.5/10

Salim Fago Lawal: He couldn't build up from his performance against the Italians and was not clinical when chances came his way. 5/10

Umeh Emmanuel: It was a subpar performance from the forward who started as a right winger before being moved centrally in the second half. 5/10

The Substitutes

Haliru Sarki:  The right winger proved once again that he deserves to be in the starting XI as he was lively when he came on and could have scored but was denied by the woodwork. His final product needs more polishing though. 7.5/10

Joshua John: He couldn't affect the proceedings when he came on. 5/10

Tochukwu Nnadi: Started from the bench for the second consecutive game and was average when he came on. 5/10

Kehinde Ibrahim: He was anonymous in what was his first appearance in the competition 4/10

Ibrahim Abdullahi: He came on as a late substitute and offered no threat. 4/10

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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