The contingents of Nigeria’s U-18 male handball national team have arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica, ahead of 2023 IHF Trophy Intercontinental Championship which is scheduled to begin today through to March 11.

Nigeria boys, who are currently the champions of Africa in the age group competition, arrived at the Central American country on Monday.

They are scheduled to begin their campaign at the six-day tournament against Nicaragua at the prestigious BN Arena in San Jose on Wednesday.

The game will kickoff by 5:00 p.m. (Costa Rica time), which is 12:00 a.m. Nigeria time and will be streamed live on HFN TV via the website of the International Handball Federation.

Coach Emeka Nnamani and his boys would be participating as the only African representative in the U-19 category.

Nigeria had qualified for the competition after beating Guinea 37-36 in the final of the IHF Trophy Continental Phase in Brazzaville, Congo, in January, to ensure participation in what would be their second-ever appearance at the IHF Trophy Intercontinental Championship.

They finished second after narrowly losing 27-26 to Chinese Taipei in their first-ever appearance at the IHF Trophy Intercontinental Championship, which was in the 2019 edition in Kosovo and have been unbeaten across all boards since the game.

The list of Nigeria contingent to the championship includes the Coach Nnamani, two officials, Nnamani Joseph Emeka, and Ayo Joshua.

Final players’ list include Kareem Faruk, Kuti Akorade, Sulaiman Azeez, Faloki Christian, Obabori Samuel, Mukiala Fuad, Mohammed Mustapha, Shagari John, Sulaiman Sani, Tahir lawal, Ajibike Kareem, Ojo Oluwagbanga and Isiyaka Mustapha.

Meanwhile, Guinea will be representing the continent in the U-21 category which also include Costa Rica, Great Britain, Australia and Cuba, with World Cup tickets at stake in both categories.