Nigeria, on Saturday, lost to Great Britain 30-20 in a fifth placement match at the IHF Emerging Nations Championship in Varna, Bulgaria.
In a game played at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria, the national under-24 male handball team, had the advantage in the first minutes of the match leading 5-1 at some point but fell like a pack of cards as Great Britain patiently actualized their tactics of isolating right-wing Faruk Yusuf, thereby punishing Nigeria’s unnecessary turnovers to win the first half 14-11.
The second half pretty much continued from how the first half ended with Yusuf isolated and no opportunity for Ibrahim and Obina Ani to shoot from the 9 meters while Great Britain kept true to their superior tactics inspired by Goalkeeper Craig McClelland’s MVP performance which led to him making crucial saves, especially six one-on-one saves in the first half and right-wing Francisco Pereira shining performance to defeat Nigeria 30-20.
McClelland, who was voted Player of the Match, made as many as 18 saves and had a 50% save ratio while Pereira, through his breathtaking fast breaks had 11 goals in the match.
Nigeria will play Andorra, who have the highest goal scorer Unai Ruiz in their team, in a 7th/8th placement on the second day while Great Britain will face Australia in a 6th placement match on the same day
