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Nigeria's under-24 men's handball team is back in business at IHF Emerging Nations Championship after a 23-point win to banish the memories of their defeat in the opener.
Nigeria earned a first victory at the IHF Emerging Nations Championship ongoing in Bulgaria after a comfortable 35-17 victory over Azerbaijan.
Learning from the defeat against Bulgaria on Wednesday, Coach Solomon Yola led the team took the bull by the horn as they went in for the kill with a commanding display in their second game.
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Yusuf inspires Nigeria
Rising star of Nigerian handball, Faruk Yusuf was the star of the show as Nigeria built its win on the foundation of his inspirational performance.
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Yusuf netted six goals in the first half, three of which came via fast breaks, as Nigeria were simply impossible to stop with an amazing display of lightning speed en route to an 18-7 win.
The second half continued as the first with captain Obinna Anih motivating the team with more fast breaks goals, 9 meters goals and defending well enough to earn a comfortable 35-17 at the end of the match.
Yusuf extended his superb run in the game, finishing with 13 goals to take his overall tally to 19 goals, the second largest goal in the group phase which is two goals shy of leading goal scorer Unai Ruiz of Andorra,
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Despite his performance though, it was the team’s captain, Obinna Anih, who was voted the player of the match for his leadership performance.
More on the game
It is Nigeria's second biggest win in the competition in 12 games after their 40-13 win over Malta in 2019.
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The national under-24 male handball team, who finished second in Group D behind host Bulgaria, will play Great Britain in a fifth placement match on Saturday at 2 pm to better their last 7th place finish in their last outing.
Great Britain, just like Nigeria, has played two matches, losing to Cuba 32-28 before they defeated Guatemala 28-17 in Group C.
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