Nigeria broke a 16-year jinx by qualifying for the quarter-finals of the ongoing 2021 African Men’s Senior Volleyball Nations Championship in Rwanda.
The Usman Abdallah’s men dug deep to defeat Ethiopia 3-1 (25-20, 25-12, 32-34, 25-17) in their last match of Pool B.
An elated head coach of Nigeria men’s team, Usman Abdallah, expressed satisfaction with his team’s display against the Ethiopians and he is now aiming to spring up a surprise in the quarterfinals.
“It was a good performance from the team today, we played well though it was a tough game from the Ethiopians,” Abdallah said after the game.
“I am happy we could deal with the danger they posed in the first set but they became more determined in the 3rd set where they eventually won by 34-32 points”.
Abdallah said Nigeria wants to better her position in this year’s Nation’s Championship.
“In 2019, Nigeria was missing at the African Nations Championship due to unseen circumstances; in 2017, we finished 13th position which was very poor. This time around, Nigeria wants to make a statement at this year’s edition”.
Nigeria will battle Cameroon in their quarterfinal match at the Kigali Arena on Saturday by 4 pm.
