Yahaya Lawali, the fullback for Nigeria’s U-17 nationwide group, was named the TotalEnergies Man of the Match for the second consecutive sport regardless of his team’s 1-0 loss to Morocco within the TotalEnergies U-17 Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.

Lawali was CAF’s official greatest participant when the Golden Eaglets defeated Zambia 1-0 of their match opener on Sunday. 

Nevertheless, the versatile defender, who ended the match as a midfielder, couldn’t assist Nigeria keep away from the defeat in opposition to Morocco regardless of his greatest efforts.

Lawali was visibly saddened by the loss regardless of his particular person accolade, stating that he had blended emotions about being named Man of the Match. 

{The teenager} acknowledged that the award was a great factor for him, however his group’s loss overshadowed his private achievement. “It was a vital sport for us, and it’s heartbreaking to lose,” he stated.

Lawali devoted his award to his teammates and urged them not to surrender, saying that “some days are like this; you do every thing however can’t win.”

He additionally spoke concerning the group’s incapacity to transform their possibilities, citing their 27 pictures, solely 4 of which had been on the right track, and none discovered the again of the online.

“We’re heartbroken that we couldn’t take our possibilities, however we’re certain to do higher in our subsequent match. We’ll work to make sure we’re higher and extra environment friendly with scoring,” he stated.

Nigeria will face South Africa of their closing group match on Saturday, and Lawali and his teammates will likely be hoping to bounce again with a win to maintain their match hopes alive.

The group will must be extra medical in entrance of objective if they’re to progress to the knockout phases.