After Thursday’s shocking 1-2 defeat against South Africa, Nigeria, one of the pre-tournament favourites has promised to bounce back when they take on Ivory Coast in their final Group B tie of the on-going 16th African Youth Championship in Kigali.

The West Africans were left crestfallen after the defeat at Stade Regional and now have to win their final Group tie in order to progress to the Semi-finals.

Nigeria’s coach Ladan Bosso partly blamed his team’s defeat to lack of creativity in the midfield.

"It is clear that we did not create enough chances today. But even when we did, we were still unable to make the most of them”.

On the other hand, South Africa’s win over Nigeria coupled with their 1-0 win over Ivory Coast automatically pushed them into the semi-finals.

South Africa, the only team with back to back wins in the competition so far is now at the helm of Group B with six points.

With Ivory Coast already out of the competition and South Africa through to the semi-finals, the battle for the remaining semi-final slot is between Nigeria and Egypt.

Teams that progress to the semi-final have automatic slots in the forth coming World Youth Championships. The championships are scheduled for September in Egypt.

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