Ebonyi soccer fans have hailed Flying Eagles’ 2-0 defeat of Black Satellites of Ghana in the ongoing West African Football Union (WAFU) Zone B, U-20 competition in Niamey.

The Eagles beat defending champions Ghana on Sunday, in its first match through goals from Ibrahim Muhammed and Ahmed Abdullahi.

The fans, who spoke to journalists in Abakaliki on Monday, commended the team for restoring smiles on Nigerians’ faces with revenge after Ghana’s senior team, the Black Stars, recently stopped the Super Eagles from qualifying for Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Bright Ijendu, former Rangers International feeder team player, said the Eagles showed the right attitude in defeating Ghana.

“Ghana has always been thorns on the flesh of Nigerian national football teams, with the psychological orientation of getting favourable results over our teams,” said Ijendu. “This orientation worked perfectly for them over the Super Eagles because even when their team drew at home to the Eagles, they contrived a winning formula that secured world cup qualification for them in Abuja.”

Julius Ugbor, a retired referee, supported Ijendu’s assertion, noting that the Flying Eagles played to earn a win.

“I also followed their preparatory matches for the competition and saw a bunch of determined players unfazed by the current form of the Ghanaian team and that country’s victory myth over Nigeria,” he said.

Darlington Eze, a soccer enthusiast, however, said the Eagles should not get unnecessary adulation for just defeating Ghana in its first match of the competition.

“We all should remember the Super Eagles’ AFCON debacle in January when it blossomed in the group stages only to whither against less-fancied Tunisia in the second round,” Eze said.

Jane Onah, a soccer buff, also supported Eze’s assertion, advising that the Flying Eagles should shun complacency and concentrate on getting maximum results in Niamey.

“The team should realise that it is only the two finalists that would qualify for the African youth championship, so the journey is still far,” Onah explained.

(NAN)