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Flying Eagles Lose 1-0 to South Korea, Crash Out of U-20 World Cup
The Flying Eagles’ quest to win their first-ever U-20 World Cup ended in the quarter-final stage on Sunday, after they lost 1-0 to South Korea at the Santiago Del Estero.
An extra-time goal by Choi Seok-hyeon was the difference as the Asians progressed to the semi-final of the U-20 World Cup in Argentina, where they face European champions, Italy.
Ladan Bosso made one change to the side that defeated hosts Argentina on Wednesday as Samson Lawal made way for Victor Eletu, who provided the assist for the second goal against the South Americans four days earlier.
Nigeria started the encounter as the better side and almost got the opener just two minutes into the game.
After dribbling past two opponents, Daniel Bameyi floated a nice cross into the Korean area, but the ball, intended for Ibrahim Muhammad, was blocked and cleared into safety following frantic defending by the Asians.
Bosso’s boys continued their dominance and in the eight minute, Abel Ogwueche almost broke the deadlock.
A well-taken corner-kick by Tochukwu Nnadi was headed straight into the hands of goalkeeper Kim Jun-hong by Ogwueche.
The Flying Eagles continued their dominance and were able to contain the pacy and skilful Red Devils.
At the start of the second half head coach Kim Eun-jung sent in Bae Jun-ho to replace Kang Seong-jin as he added more threat to his attack.
Despite the early change from the coach, the Nigerians remained the team looking likely to score and captain Bameyi drew out a fine save from Jun-hong after hitting a long-range shot with venom, but the goalkeeper was equal to the task to keep the score level.
After an hour of action, South Korea began to look more dangerous and had their first shot of the game, with Lee Seung-joon’s curler beating Kingsley Aniagboso, in goal for Nigeria, but narrowly missed the target.
In response, Bosso made two quick changes as he sent in Umeh Emmanuel and Kehinde Ibrahim for Fago Lawal and Muhammad respectively.
Bameyi then missed the opportunity to give Nigeria the late winner after winning the ball from Park Hyun-bin on the edge of the box in the 86th minute, but he dragged his shot just wide as the game headed into extra time.
And just four minutes into extra time, South Korea took the lead with their first shot on target in the encounter, Lee Young-jun’s corner-kick headed in by Choi Seok-hyeon.
With just 10 minutes left, Emmanuel squandered a glorious chance to hand Nigeria an equaliser after he volleyed his shot way high beyond the posts from inside the box.
The South Koreans held onto their slender lead as they sealed a spot in the semi-finals and will face Italy on Thursday.
US President, Donald Trump, has ordered the Pentagon – headquarters of the United States Department of Defense – to prioritize the protection of Christians targeted by ISIS terrorists in Nigeria.
U.S. Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, disclosed this on Wednesday while stressing that the mission has quietly led to the killing of ISIS’ second-in-command in Nigeria.
Speaking during a cabinet meeting chaired by President Trump at the White House, Hegseth said:
“To give you a sense of how committed this president is (referring to President Trump), maybe, a year ago, he heard the call of Nigerian Christians who are being targeted and killed by ISIS in Nigeria.
“He said, Pete, I want the war department to focus on ensuring that we do whatever we can to protect those Christians”.
He further said: “Partnerships like that can take some time behind the scenes, but he never wavered on it. We got the assets there over the last month. There has not been much coverage of this”.
He added that U.S. intelligence gathered during the operation helped lead to the deaths of “hundreds” of ISIS fighters tied to attacks on Christians and threats against the U.S. homeland.
“We killed ISIS’ number two in Nigeria, who is most responsible for killing Christians and trying to target U.S. homeland.
“There’s a lot of things we do that the media pays attention to, and a lot of things that the president empowers the Department to do on behalf of the American people, that he deserves great credit for,” Hegseth concluded.
Controversial social media activist, Martins Vincent Otse aka VeryDarkMan (VDM), has reacted strongly to allegations surrounding the circulation of an alleged audio involving President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
VDM spoke in a lengthy video posted on social media after comments credited to presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, accused him of disseminating a fake audio related to the President.
In the video, VDM claimed he began receiving several calls warning him not to return to Nigeria following the controversy surrounding the audio clip.
According to him, some associates advised him to remain abroad over fears that he could be arrested upon his return to the country.
Reacting to the development, VDM denied any wrongdoing and insisted that he had the constitutional right to criticise the government and comment on national issues.
He accused government officials of paying more attention to critics on social media instead of addressing pressing security challenges confronting the country.
The activist also criticised the Federal government over insecurity, kidnappings and economic hardship, arguing that Nigerians were facing difficult living conditions across the country.
VDM further alleged that some individuals were attempting to create a narrative to justify possible actions against him because of his criticism of the administration.
He maintained that he would continue speaking on issues affecting Nigerians, particularly insecurity and governance.
During the emotional video, the social commentator repeatedly questioned why government officials were allegedly more vocal about online controversies than incidents of bandit attacks and kidnappings.
He also urged Nigerians to participate actively in the 2027 general elections, insisting that citizens must make decisions based on the performance of political leaders.
The controversy followed comments attributed to Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy, who reportedly stated that VDM should “face the weight of the law” over the alleged circulation of fake audio involving the President.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no official confirmation from security agencies regarding any planned action against the activist.
By Eric Elezuo
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has been declared winner of the presidential primary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
The declaration was made at the Trascorp Hilton Hotel, where the final collation of results was made.
The former Vice President polled a total of 1, 846, 370 votes to defeat his closest rival, former Governor of Rivers State, Hon Rotimi Amaechi, who scored just over 500 thousand votes. Alhaji Muhammed Hayatu-Deen came third.
