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Nigeria's handball team produced arguably its finest performance at the IHF Emerging Nations Championship after a comfortable victory over Andorra in Varna, Bulgaria.
Nigeria finished seventh position at the IHF Emerging Nations Championship after a comfortable 36-14 victory over Andorra in Varna, Bulgaria on Sunday.
The national under-24 male handball team knew they had to respond after their disappointing defeat against Great Britain in their last match and put a plan in place not to repeat the turnovers and mistakes committed in their previous.
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Thus, an expected tactical switch by Coach Solomon Yola, saw Nigeria isolating top goal scorer Unai Ruiz, in the build-up of Andorra's attack and took advantage of their depleted team to win the first half 17-6 with Faruk Yusuf back to his best.
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22:47 - 24.04.2023
Under-24 Male Handball team arrives Bulgaria for IHF Emerging Nations Championship
Nigeria's Under-24 Male Handball team has arrived in Bulgaria to make the nations proud at the IHF Emerging Nations Championship,
Yusuf leads Nigeria
After a quiet game against Great Britain, it was good to see Yusuf back to his usual self in the final game against Andorra.
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He dictated play not only by scoring three goals but also he also had four assists and four steals while Goalkeeper Oladunjoye Babatunde Adamolugbe had six saves in the first half for a 50% saving efficiency.
The second half continued the same way with Nigeria pummeling Andorra with fast breaks, wings nine and seven meters goals to earn an emphatic 36-14 victory.
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Andorra needed 14 minutes and 41 seconds to score their first goal in the second half.
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12:41 - 27.04.2023
HANDBALL Nigeria starts IHF Emerging Championship on a losing note
Things did not go as planned for Nigeria's under-24 in their IHF Emerging Nations Championship opener.
Stars of the game
While Yusuf was superb throughout the game, the duo of Hakeem Damilare Salami and Oluwaseun Amusan who combined to score 16 goals.
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Damilare Salami was eventually named player of the game for his outstanding performance, with Yusuf adding six more goals to take his overall tally in the competition to 28 goals and tie Cyprus's Alexandros Charalambous.
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22:54 - 27.04.2023
HANDBALL Nigeria bounces back to register first win at IHF Emerging Nations Championship
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.
What the result means
The result saw Nigeria record its second-highest victory at the IHF Emerging Nations Championship; five goals shy of their highest win in Georgia 2019 when they defeated Malta 40-13.
The 35-17 victory over Azerbaijan earlier in this year's competition is the third-highest in the history of the championship.
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23:01 - 29.04.2023
HANDBALL How Great Britain tactically destroyed Nigeria at IHF Emerging Champs
Nigeria's U-24 handball team lost by 10 points to Great Britain in the battle for fifth place at the IHF Emerging Nations Championship in Varna, Bulgaria.
Therefore, Nigeria ends their 2023 IHF Emerging Nations Championship campaign with two wins out of four matches to finish in seventh place, the same position they finished in the 2019 edition in Georgia while Andorra, who won their first match of the competition but lost the remaining three to end up in 8th place.
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